An ABVP member switched sides on Wednesday, joining rival NSUI just days ahead of Delhi University Students Union election.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad said Yash Shokeen, 24, left because they weren’t going to endorse his candidature for the September 9 election.
But Shokeen, 24, who had been campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party-affiliated ABVP so far, said he had decided to leave because the group was dividing students on caste lines.
All India Congress Committee and Indian National Teachers Congress felicitated Shokeen for switching over to the Congress-affiliated National Students Union on India.
Shokeen, who is pursuing masters in Buddhist Studies, served as the ABVP in-charge for outer west campus.
Shokeen said though the ABVP was in power in DUSU, it has not been able to solve any of the students’ issues. “Their manifesto every year is repetitive,” he complained.
He said since the new government took over at the Centre in 2014, the ABVP has stopped questioning the wrongdoings by the government like it used to.
This year ABVP held a hunger strike for only one day for the DU law faculty aspirants, who were not getting admission due to Bar Council of India’s decision to scrap seats. In contrast, the NSUI carried on their protest for 10 to 15 days and also had a three-day hunger strike, he said.
Shokeen said while the ABVP says nationalism is their top priority, they always select a Gujjar, a Jat and a Yadav for their DUSU panel. Shokeen claimed his name was in the list of shortlisted ABVP candidates for the DUSU election. But DUSU president Satendar Awana, who is from ABVP, denied this.
Awana told Deccan Herald that NSUI needed a Jat candidate for long and Shokeen joined them because he could not get an ABVP ticket. “Many Jats from NSUI have also joined us after Shokeen’s decision to switch teams, as they were angry that their chances to get a ticket are delayed,” said Awana.
Awana claimed Shokeen’s campaigned for ABVP for just a day for this year’s election and the NSUI members had smashed his car.
