The Hindu : New Delhi News : Former DUSU leaders also in the queue for party tickets

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Wednesday, Mar 14, 2007
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New Delhi

Former DUSU leaders also in the queue for party tickets

Parul Sharma

"We have a strong chance... hope that the party would recognise our work"

NEW DELHI: In the run-up to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, it is not just the Councillors who are making a beeline for the party headquarters for tickets. Former Delhi University Students' Union office-bearers are also trying their luck this time.

From DUSU president Amrita Dhawan to Rohit Choudhary who headed the students' union in 2003-04, quite a number of them have applied to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for tickets to contest the civic elections due on April 5.

With the sitting Councillors not finding much favour from the party leadership, the political parties have expressed their desire to field young candidates with an untarnished image. And the fact that some of them have successfully fought the DUSU elections -- one of the most hotly-contested students' elections in the country -- and worked for the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for a considerable time has come in handy.

"Delhi University is a big platform and people from different communities vote for you. DUSU increases your visibility and all the work that you do while being with the DUSU counts very much," says Amrita Dhawan, who has applied for a Congress ticket from Vikaspuri.

Amrita points out that her party is focusing more on the youth this time since they are "not bound by race, community or caste considerations". And that has made not just Amrita but also Rohit Choudhary who was also the Shivaji College student union president and Tarun Kumar very optimistic.

Both have claimed that they have a "strong" chance and expressed the hope that the Congress would "recognise their work".

"I am a serious candidate. We have worked for the party. We have carried out all responsibilities entrusted to us in the best possible manner and are ready to take up new challenges. It is for the party to evaluate how efficient and loyal I have been in the past and decide accordingly," said Tarun Kumar, the national vice-president of NSUI.

DUSU joint secretary in 2004-05 Gaurav Khari, who is quite sure of getting a BJP ticket, said it was time the political parties entrusted responsibilities to youth of the country, considering India had a growing young population.

Delhi Youth Congress president Amit Malik admitted that the youngsters were "serious candidates" and some of the former DUSU office-bearers could find their names in the final list of contenders. "We have always given importance to the youth. In the past we had given tickets to Neetu Verma and Neeraj Basoya and this time again the party could do the same," he said.

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