The Hindu : New Delhi News : Issues, not faces, will swing votes in DUSU polls, hope leaders

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 27, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Issues, not faces, will swing votes in DUSU polls, hope leaders

Mandira Nayar

For the main traditional rivals, ABVP and NSUI, this year's elections are important

NEW DELHI: Glossy pictures of pretty girls and smiling boys plastered all over the walls of Delhi University before students' union elections may no longer play the big part they once did in swinging the vote. Moving away from the usual dose of glamour, the university elections have come of age if student leaders are to be believed.

The issues that the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) are raising might not exactly be new, but for once pretty faces will no longer be the dominating factor. The reason, however, is not that the voters are more discerning, but because of the strict ban on posters. And synonymous with "pretty faces'', the NSUI is finally looking to change this "stereotype".

While the ABVP maintains that its candidates are not chosen for their looks, the student organisation is desperately hoping to capture the main posts of the DUSU after two years. For the NSUI, too, the elections are crucial as it will be looking to get third time lucky.

On the selection of candidates, the NSUI claims it has been based on leadership qualities alone. "Their background, whether they had been involved in the NCC etc, are all being taken into consideration. The idea is to have clean candidates. We want to project them as all-rounders,'' says Kuntal Krishna, national spokesman for the NSUI, adding that the ideology of the candidates and their loyalty to the Congress will also count.

Confident that it will win all the seats in the upcoming elections with a record margin this time as well, the NSUI is of the view that initiatives of the United Progressive Alliance Government such as corporate tax for education would add to its list of achievements. A fact that most students might not swallow so easily, but the NSUI claims that it is all about the bigger picture. "The pamphlets we have printed also mention this achievement. We want to attract the thinking student,'' says Mr. Krishna.

Not making grand statements but looking at issues seriously, the ABVP is hopeful that the lacklustre performance of the DUSU leadership in the past year will go in its favour. "We will win all the four seats this time,'' asserts ABVP general secretary Nakul Bharadwaj.

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