ABVP ups the ante against DU authorities

Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have filed a court case alleging foul play in the recently-held Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections. ABVP will hold a protest on Tuesday in the university to demand a probe into the role of the chief election officer.

“We have been asking for a thorough investigation into counting of votes. This year, candidates were not even allowed to see the ballot boxes. The chief election officer misbehaved with our party candidates too,” said ABVP member Rohit Chahal.

ABVP will file two more writ petitions over inconsistencies in following the Lyngdoh committee guidelines during the students’ union polls. “One of the writ petitions is about the division of tenure between two party candidates due to a tie. Despite our candidate’s name coming in the draw of lots, the tenure was divided, flouting election guidelines,” said Chahal.

However, the National Students’ Union of India has accused ABVP of having double standards. “ABVP had said that its candidate won’t be a part of DUSU until there is a probe. Now its candidate has joined the office,” said NSUI spokesperson Amrish Ranjan Pandey. He said ABVP should accept defeat now.

  Polling was conducted on September 14, and results were declared the next day. ABVP members alleged that they were assaulted by police when they protested  against the dubious counting process.