DUSU Polls 2023: ABVP to release separate manifestos for students, women

NEW DELHI: The RSS-affiliated ABVP will release two manifestos -- one for students and another for women -- for the September 22 Delhi University Students' Union elections. The manifestos are likely to be released on Monday. Ashutosh Singh, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) national media convenor, said the manifestos will be released together.

"In the post-Covid time, there has been a rise in mental health issues among students. Our manifesto will demand more mindfulness centres and counsellors for them. The union will also hold programmes for mental health of students," he told PTI. Another issue that will find mention in the manifesto will be hostels and infrastructure, Singh said.

"The number of students has increased but the infrastructure has not kept pace with it. We will demand that the infrastructure be developed to match the rise in the number of students," he added.

The Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has also announced a women's manifesto, which will be released on Monday. Its students' manifesto was released on Saturday.

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On Sunday, ABVP candidates conducted a "Sampark Abhiyan" at various hostels and postgraduate accommodations in Malviya Nagar, Hudson Lane, Vijay Nagar and Satya Niketan, among others. The candidates appealed to the students to choose its panel in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections and committed to providing essential facilities.

The ABVP has fielded Tushar Dedha for the president's post. Sushant Dhankhad is contesting for the vice-president's post, Aprajita for secretary and Sachin Baisla for joint secretary. Dhankhad said, "We are approaching the students with a vision based on the issues affecting them. The ABVP, led by the union, will work on issues related to students' security, academic concerns and infrastructure."

Baisla said the shortage of hostel facilities is a significant issue. He emphasised that, if elected, the ABVP will prioritise increasing the number of hostels across Delhi University campuses and constructing women's accommodations in each college.

Students are providing substantial support for this initiative. The DUSU elections will be held on September 22, after a gap of four years. The elections were last held in 2019. The students' union elections could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 while possible disruptions to the academic calendar prevented their conduct in 2022.