ABVP to take up city-wide campaign for DUSU polls

RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is set to launch a citywide door-to-door campaign to reach student voters across Delhi-NCR region ahead of the Delhi University Students’ Union polls, scheduled for September 11.

Revealing the student party’s plan of reaching out to 1.27 lakh student voters, ABVP’s Joint Organising Secretary Srinivas on Friday said, “We have divided the city into 150 divisions. In each of these divisions, we will use our cadre to canvas support.”

He added that the party will also reach out to DU students living in the satellites cities of Delhi, including Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Noida.

“Students living in NCR region have polled more votes whenever we won with a huge margin,” Srinivas said.

At the micro-level, ABVP has deputed one “full-time” volunteer in each of the 50 DUSU affiliated institutions – 46 undergraduate colleges and four varsity departments. Amongst the 50 volunteers, 12 are girls, said Srinivas.

He claimed that their intent is to draft a local manifesto.
“Their job is to take note of local issues – however small they may seem. For instance, it was pointed out that the newly constructed toilets at one college didn’t had separate signage for boys and girls,” Srinivas said.

Buoyed by the success in the last year’s DUSU polls, the student outfit said its target is also to increase the number of voter turnout, from nearly 54,000 every year to over 70,000 in the forthcoming polls.

According to the ABVP, the first-year students poll more votes than their seniors do.
On the student party’s plank for upcoming polls, Srinivas said their campaign will hinge on issues related to successful implementation of choice based credit system and demand for compact campus, concessional Delhi Metro passes and Room Rent Control Act.

The ABVP had defeated its archrival Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India 4-0. But with Aam Aadmi Party’s student wing Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti gearing to make a debut in DUSU polls this year, the ABVP could find itself locked in a triangular contest.