DUSU election 2023: AISA protests against alleged ‘harassment’ by ABVP delegates at Miranda House 

The All India Students' Association (AISA) staged a protest at Miranda House college, Delhi University (DU) today, Tuesday, August 29 against alleged harassment and infiltration by the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Students from Miranda House, a women-only college on the North campus of Delhi University, claimed that 25-30 men from the ABVP entered the college on Tuesday, campaigning for the upcoming Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) elections.

Aiyesha Ahmad, a second-year student from Miranda House, told EdexLive that the incident took place on Tuesday morning.

“We are aware that since DUSU elections are approaching, the student groups will be campaigning. We were informed by the college management that only four to five people will be allowed to campaign at a time but around 30 people, mostly men, from ABVP entered the campus on Tuesday morning. Most of them were speaking in a very uncivil manner and were even verbally abusive when students tried to take a video of the campaign,” Aiyesha alleged.

Meanwhile, ABVP has refuted the allegations saying that all the campiagners "upheld the official code of conduct, demonstrating utmost dignity while advocating for ABVP."

"In line with our unwavering dedication to prioritize women's security, ABVP stands resolute in its commitment to this crucial aspect of our agenda. As we gather momentum in our pre-campaigning efforts alongside the students of Delhi University for the forthcoming DUSU elections, we are not going to back down by the unsubstantiated allegations raised by the Left Wing contestants," Ashutosh Singh, National media convener of ABVP said in a statement.

Principal assures action

After the incident took place, AISA staged a protest in front of Miranda House’s principal office demanding action against the campaigning student activists.

Shambhavi Chaudhary, Convenor for AISA DU (North Campus), claimed that Principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda addressed the protesting students, assuring that a proctoral committee will be looking into the incident.

“Even while campaigning in a gender minority college, there were almost no female participants in the campaign. The men tried to enter the canteen and classrooms though it was not allowed… The principal told us that permission was given for only four students and mostly women. She said that the people will be identified from videos and photos from this morning and necessary actions will be taken,” Shambhavi alleged.

AISA also demanded that the nominations of Ashish Singh and Balkishan Chowdhary from ABVP, who were allegedly leading the campaign, be cancelled for the upcoming DUSU elections.

Not the first incident

Students claimed that a similar incident also took place at the Aditi Mahavidyalaya College on Monday, August 28.

Student activists pointed out that official campaigning by student unions will only start after a final list of nominated candidates has been released.

“The official time for campaigning hasn't even started and ABVP has started to force their entry inside colleges. Around 30 ABVP men barged into Aditi Mahavidyalaya College this afternoon in the name of election campaigning. There were 4 security guards at the gate trying to stop these men from entering but they pushed the guards away and marched into the women’s college,” the Student Federation of India (SFI) stated in a tweet dated August 28.

SFI also claimed that at Ramanujan and Zakir Hussain College in Delhi University, property damage has been caused by campaigners.