Political Wannabes

despite flagging interest, elections in delhi university are stepping stones for aspiring politicians. pallavi mittal reports on the lure of the dusu poll and how it affects aspirations. there are no opinion polls to precede this election. neither does it make front page news. no nail-biting election analyses or all-night tv shows. but for the handful of unsure youngsters who are out to test political waters, the delhi university students' union election is virtually baptism by fire.if they make it, then there are on their way up the political beanstalk. but where does the beanstalk lead? it may not be an all-out path to a political career, but there is a branch that does twist into the magical world of mainstream politics. so believe starry-eyed dusu aspirants. ''joining politics depends more on individual inclination,'' says sudhanshu mittal, a bjp worker and dusu president in 1981-82. "dusu is not a sure shot way to a political career as some people like to think.'' ''i may get into politics if i get a chance,'' said dusu vice-presidential aspirant neetu verma, an ma final student of buddhist studies. ''associating with the students' union builds up the necessary links.'' verma may be right in building up her hopes. the names of dusu post-holders in the past read a list of who's who. it includes 35-year-old ajay maken, dusu president in 1985-86 and well into his second stint as congress mla now. maken had a stint in trade union activities immediately after his term as dusu president expired. in 1993, he was elected to the delhi assembly as one of the youngest mlas. he fought the 1998 lok sabha polls from south delhi against sushma swaraj. but lost. he continues to be an mla. the only dusu president who has made it to the lok sabha so far is bjp's vijay goel. this 45-year-old goel was dusu president in 1977-78 and went on to earn the sobriquet of ''giant killer'' after defeating jagdish tytler in the sadar constituency in 1996. he trounced j p aggarwal in the 1998 elections in the chandni chowk constituency. goel is not alone. there are several illustrious examples of dusu leaders going on to contest, and win, municipal and assembly seats. the present municipal corporation has at least four — shalu malik (dusu president in 1994-95), arti mehra (dusu vice-president in 1981-82), meera aggarwal (dusu joint secretary in 1982-83) and vijender kumar (dusu vice-president in 1984-85). apart from active politicians, several former dusu chiefs hold important positions in the city's bjp and congress units. subhash chopra — president of the delhi pradesh congress committee — for instance. he won the dusu election in 1970-71 when there were indirect elections to the post. union law minister arun jaitley, high profile spokesperson of the bjp, was dusu president in 1974-75. the nature of the dusu polls and the quality of student leaders has undergone a sea change, mittal said. and with the idealism and motivation of the yesteryears missing, there are few students leaders who are motivated to get the larger scenario. ''earlier it was campus politics that used to dominate, now there are a number of other influences,'' he said. earlier, students from reputed institutions like shri ram college of commerce or the university law centre were the vanguards of student politics.