New Delhi: Newly elected Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) President, Yash Dabas, on Monday said his victory had increased the responsibility on his shoulders and pledged to become the voice of every student.
He also took a swipe at Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme.
The RSS-affiliated student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three of the four posts in the DUSU elections held on September 19, while the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) failed to win any of the four posts. Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen secured the post of Vice President.
Speaking to IANS, Dabas said, “After winning, I feel that the responsibility on my shoulders has increased. Now, I have to become the voice of every student and provide leadership to the 1.5 lakh students of Delhi University who come under DUSU. I have to fight for every issue faced by the students.”
Taking a dig at the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme, Dabas said, “Perhaps the programme should not have been called ‘Goonj’; it should have been called ‘Chillana’ (shout). And the ‘Goonj’ that must have been echoing in their ears was the chant of the ABVP’s victory.”
Riya Chhawdi, who was elected DUSU Secretary, also expressed happiness over the election result and recalled her previous experience of facing defeat in college elections.
Speaking to IANS, Riya said, “I am extremely happy. They say that a person who has experienced defeat once knows the joy of victory differently. I lost the college elections last year, and just a year later, I have directly become the Secretary of the Delhi University Students’ Union. So, the happiness of this victory is truly different.”
Commenting on the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme, Riya said, “The ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ remained confined there. The ‘Goonj’ could not even be heard among those 10-15 people. He completely failed. So, I would just like to tell him — better luck next time, sir. This time, you made such a strong ‘Goonj’ that you could not win even a single seat. Previously, you could have at least won one or two seats, but this time, you could not win even one.”
“ABVP has won three posts. This shows that Gen Z is with us. We will win all four next time,” she added.
Lakshay Raj Singh, the newly elected Joint Secretary of DUSU, also spoke about the result and said that years of effort had finally yielded results.
“It feels great. Years of struggle and hard work have finally paid off, and I am very happy,” Singh told IANS.
Referring to the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme, Singh said, “They were holding ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programmes in different cities, but the students of Delhi University, who came here to study from different cities, raised their voice here. That voice was raised in the colour of saffron, in the interest of the nation and students, and with slogans of ‘Bharat Mata’.”
On independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen’s victory in the Vice-President’s post and the NSUI’s defeat, Singh said, “Shokeen’s win shows that no one should contest on NSUI ticket… The main reason NSUI did not win was that it was too focussed on criticising ABVP and not on the students’ issues. That is their problem.”
(IANS)
