The Hindu : New Delhi News : Quota issue to figure in DUSU polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Quota issue to figure in DUSU polls

Mandira Nayar

Outfits might be reluctant to take a stand, but it will certainly influence voting

NEW DELHI: The burning issue of reservation might be missing from the Delhi University Students' Union election debate if the two major student outfits, National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), are to be believed, but it will not be easy to just wish the issue away.

Students divided

It being one of the issues that have got students on both sides of the reservation divide agitating on the streets, NSUI and ABVP might be reluctant to openly take a stand, but reservation will certainly influence voting.

As one student of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) put it: "It is an issue that has made us go against NSUI. I am not alone in this, all my friends have decided to vote against NSUI this time."

United Students, an independent group that has been in the forefront of the movement in the Capital, is hoping to translate the support it has garnered over the past few months into votes. "It is precisely for this reason we are making it our agenda. Both the two major student organisations have not come out and taken a stand. It just shows that they are toeing the line of their bigger political parties," said Aaditya Dar, who is contesting the president's post.

Resentment

While it might not be easy for an independent group to actually acquire power, the resentment that some students have about the reservation issue is a reality that even NSUI activists are aware and concerned about secretly.

"It is going to be an issue. In an election where there are two major parties, a vote against us will reduce our margin," said a NSUI member.

However, determined to turn the resentment into an "intellectual" issue, NSUI is hoping to cash in on the crores of rupees that will be spent on higher education as a reason for students to vote for them. "If we could also reach the OBC voter and show them that it is for their benefit it will certainly go in our favour," pointed out an NSUI activist.

Having been out of power for too long, ABVP might not take a strong stand against the reservation issue, but admits that the "motive" behind reservation is not right. "It is to capture a vote bank. However, we support reservation," said an ABVP member.

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