Delhi University (DU) has proposed to remodel its students' union (SU) election process in order to make it free of "money and muscle power".
The suggestion was put forth at the varsity's Executive Council meeting held on Thursday, February 27, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
The university administration took note of the Delhi High Court order issued on November 11, 2024. The court had recommended structural reforms, advocating a shift to a two-tier election system where elections would first be conducted at the college and department level.
The elected presidents and councillors from these institutions would then participate in a second round of voting to elect the DUSU office bearers.
The proposal apparently sparked criticism from the students unions and a few executive council members as well. Students associated with All India Students' Association (AISA), Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held massive demonstrations outside the Vice-Chancellor's office.
Mithuraaj Dhusiya, elected member of the Executive Council, stated, "In today's emergency EC meeting, we strongly protested against the university's attempt to change the process of students' elections in DUSU. We are of the firm opinion that to change the election process and constitute the students' collective body, DUSU, the university should not take a top-down approach. It should be discussed as an agenda item in a regular meeting of EC. Wherever changes are required, if at all, there should be a wider consultation involving all stakeholders, students' collective as well as teachers' collective."
SFI President Sooraj said, "In a blatant attempt to further silence and destroy the democratic movement of Delhi University, the admin has now moved a step ahead by proposing to disband the DUSU and introduce an absurd new process making elections to the Union indirect and more susceptible to fraud and corruption."
He further added, "Indirect elections are not new for Delhi University. Before reforms were brought, DU elections were conducted through indirect means, which fostered malign practices of buying candidates and other frauds at different tiers. It is important to note that this would further stop intervention on important policy-level issues like the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), National Education Policy (NEP) and others."
ABVP led DUSU Secretary Mitravinda Karanwal echoed a similar opinion and said, "This decision is equivalent to abolishing and suppressing students' voting rights, which is absolutely inadmissible under any circumstances. ABVP will persistently oppose this move at all levels to ensure that students retain their right to elect their representatives."
AISA DU Joint Secretary Savvy argued that indirect elections would shift campaign spending from posters to vote-buying among a select few, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
