Delhi University elections: Campaigning ends, another candidate served notice

NEW DELHI: The candidates contesting for various posts in the Delhi University Students' Union had till 9 am on Thursday, to campaign. With time running out, the canvassing became increasingly frantic on Wednesday despite the fact that the decision regarding the status of the 11 candidates who had been served showcause notices for using printed material was yet to be announced. On Wednesday, yet another candidate was served a notice.While verifying the papers of Shalu Raj, a first year BA Programme student at ARSD College, contesting for position of college secretary, officials discovered that she, as the chief election commissioner, Prof. CS Dubey's statement puts it, "had already got admission during the academic session 2010-11 in Ramjas College in BA (H) Political Science and ha[d] failed in annual examination as duly verified by the Principal, Ramjas College." Apparently, Raj concealed this in her affidavit which nominees are required to file.As for the other 11, Dubey says a committee will be established which will scrutinize all the evidence gathered. "This can't all happen in a day. We may declare our decision even after the election," says Dubey. The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) had a Congress MP address students on their behalf; Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) got serious about online campaigning, increasing its "e-activity".Rohit Chahal of ABVP says that their candidates will be available for online chat on Facebook from 9pm to 10pm on Thursday. This move - a first in DU - will enable them to campaign after hours. The election office had imposed a 8pm curfew on canvassers. "We are inviting everyone on our profiles, and that's thousands of students," says Chahal.The party chose to spend Wednesday campaigning among students from the North Eastern states. "There are many students from the area but few turn up to vote. This year we had shown them support after the Assam riots," he adds.Interestingly, H Joyson Khrasi, the first student from the North East to stand for the post of president in Zakir Husain Delhi College is being vigorously supported by the college students, keen to display their belief in "national integration.""Today is the last day for campaigning so we stepped up our efforts," says Amrishranjan Pandey of NSUI. Congress MP, Deepender Singh Hooda, addressed students on Wednesday, speaking on the candidates' behalf. Text messages were sent, street-plays performed and support was rallied online through social networking sites. "Wednesday was very hectic for us. We sent out five campaign teams in different directions and they are coming only now (8 pm)," says Sunny Kumar, state secretary, Delhi, All India Students' Association (AISA).Interestingly, several members of student bodies are saying that the profiles of candidates that were to be uploaded online -- a decision taken by the university authorities to discourage the use of paper -- have not been uploaded yet. "All our candidates filled the forms but they aren't on the net yet," said one member.