The Hindu : New Delhi News : Tensions are running high

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 19, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Tensions are running high

WITH LESS than two days to go for the curtain to fall on the first leg of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, tensions are running high on the North Campus. Although the candidates in the race for the central panel posts will be known only when the final list is announced on Monday, the coming days will have wannabe student leaders trying their best to ensure a ticket to contest.

This Friday being the last date for filing of nominations, the real lobbying will be on till the last date for withdrawal of nominations on Monday. Most student outfits may claim that the panel is chosen after judging the academic and personal credibility of a candidate, but as past years have shown, the selection criteria are not as transparent as it is made out to be.

The winning ability may eventually be the dominating factor, with a candidate's popularity and eventually his/her ability to sweep the floating votes often being seen as a deciding factor. But the choice of the presidential candidate is almost unanimously seen as the most important one, with the choice of a strong candidate for the post often helping a student outfit win the rest of the posts.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) near sweep in 1992 was seen as one made possible by the strong candidature of its presidential candidate Nakul Bharadwaj, while the National Students' Union of India's victory in 1993 was helped to a great extent by the united support for Rohit Chaudhary in the student outfit. With the presidential line-up for this year still not clear, it will be a wait of a few more days before the battle lines are really drawn - and, as student outfits here point out, before the real drama begins.

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WITH INFIGHTING being the National Students' Union of India's (NSUI) biggest worry in recent times, the outfit needs to keep insiders in check before they get ready to beat the opposition. From disgruntled NSUI members campaigning for the ABVP to some of its senior workers leaving the party for the lure of a ticket, it has not exactly been a clean slate for this student outfit.

Admitting that the problem exists, senior members point out that the need to choose a popular candidate is all the more important to avoid any dissent before the elections. Also, every time an old member leaves, they invariably take a group of supporters with them. But despite its history, the NSUI maintains that no one person can affect its victory chances, as there are innumerable new members joining for every member leaving.

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WITH OPERATIONS management being an important element in the field of management studies, top B-School XLRI Jamshedpur launched a new Student Society -- Association at XLRI for industrial and Operations Management, AXIOM -- on Tuesday.

Inaugurated with a one-day workshop on "Operations Management: Where does it go from here?", the committee will coordinate student activities in the Operations Management Area by facilitating regular interactions with practicing professionals from diverse sectors through regular company tours and guest lectures. It will also increase on-campus presence of companies committed to excellence in Operations Management through case study competitions and conferences.

Lakshmi B. Ghosh

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