DUSU tickets set off early revelry

TNN / Aug 23, 2005, 23:37 IST

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NEW DELHI: Drum beats filling the air, enough marigold garlands to last a municipal poll, candidates propped on the shoulders of supporters out on Vijay Yatras -- if looks were anything to go by, the 27 candidates in the fray for the Delhi University Students' Union elections, have already won the war.
For a few, like the four NSUI nominees, it has indeed been a battle to wrench tickets in the mad clamour preceding the final announcements.
But if the lung power that all the other parties put in on Tuesday is any indication, DU will have an interesting week of campaigning ahead of the final showdown on September 2.
In the charged atmosphere immediately after the final candidates were announced, supporters indulged in small-time sledging too. The most common refrain, everytime INSO vice-presidential candidate Sonia Shahrawat appeared, was "Woh a gayee Mallika Sherawat ki behen."

Even smaller outfits like the All India Students' Association, indulged in frenetic cries of "Jab lal lal lahrayega tab hosh thikane aayega" -- it was a different issue that not many of DU's Coke-guzzling, Lee-flaunting electorate would relate to their slogans invoking Charu Mazumdar and Naxalbari.
Uma Gupta, DU AISA president, admitted that their presidential candidate in the last elections had polled just 1% of the total votes. "Our main aim is to increase awareness among students, to tell them that there are alternatives to NSUI and ABVP's brand of money and muscle power politics," Gupta said.

This year, the coming together of four parties with limited presence -- Students' Federation of India, Chhatra Lok Janshakti, Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha and the Ambedkar Students' Association -- under the banner of the United Students' Front, has also given a new tempo to the campaigning.
These candidates are trying hard to turn their handicap into strength. Archana Yadav, USF candidate for the secretary's post, said, "We have never been in DUSU. Both ABVP and NSUI have been there, done that. They will have to answer students on what work they have done till now. They have stopped relating to the electorate.��
In a meeting with all the candidates on Tuesday, DU election officials reminded them of the importance of the code of conduct and asked them to maintain peace during campaigning.
Chief election officer Professor Rajiv Khanna said, "An interesting trend this time has been that all parties have taken a lot of care in choosing candidates with a clean image. All those, whether inside DUSU or outside it, against whom there have been allegations of violence, have been kept out."

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