Month before DUSU polls, ABVP, NSUI ex-members jump ship to AAP student wing

Indian Express

a day ago

At Delhi University's (DU) North Campus, tucked between notices of fest auditions and exam schedules are a different kind of poster – urging students to 'Join ASAP', referring to Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) student wing, Association of Students for Alternative Politics.
ASAP booths have sprung up near the Arts Faculty, with volunteers urging students to join their 'alternative politics' movement. Posters and sign-up sheets are drawing in curious students eager for a political space that 'claims to reject money, muscle, and caste-driven candidature'.
And they include many former members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Student's Union of India (NSUI) as well.
This will be ASAP's first formal outing in DUSU elections, and it comes more than a decade after AAP launched its youth outfit, Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), in 2013. The CYSS had first contested DUSU polls in 2015. Though it had contested DUSU and Panjab University (PU) polls with limited success, it had slowly faded from Delhi's student landscape, until this summer.
In May, in a rare public appearance following AAP's losing power in Delhi, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia relaunched the youth wing as ASAP at an event in the Constitution Club of India, framing it as a vehicle to 'restore the dignity of politics' and build a new generation of student leaders.
A new logo – a fountain-pen nib with flames shooting out like a rocket – was launched, and Kejriwal claimed that 'winning elections through misuse of power' was mainstream politics, while ASAP's mission was to 'win hearts'. As the new session gets underway at DU, a quiet realignment is playing out among old players. Several candidates and former office-bearers of ABVP and NSUI have jumped ship to ASAP, citing fatigue with the 'money and muscle power' that has long dominated DUSU elections.
Despite the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations stating that no candidate should be allowed to spend more than Rs 5,000 or use printed material like posters and flyers, every year, DUSU polls see candidates putting up large hoardings, distributing printed manifestos, and hiring branded vehicles to campaign.
Deepak Bansal (33), once a joint secretary of DUSU in 2011 and an ABVP loyalist for six years, had joined the CYSS in 2023. He is now helping steer the party's strategy in both PU and DU.
'DUSU elections have always required money. A candidate is supposed to bring in cash, or at least come from a wealthy background to even be considered,' Bansal said. 'It shuts the door on students like us, who come from middle-class families with ideas and energy but no political godfather.'
'When I won in 2011, we raised issues like student bus passes and the deployment of 'U-Special' buses. But years later, these demands are still pending. DUSU became a political theatre high on visibility, low on delivery. That's what ASAP wants to change,' he added.
Ishwar Chand, who once held ABVP's state presidency in Delhi (2009–2015) and then became a district general secretary for BJP in Mayur Vihar, had joined AAP last year. Today, he is overseeing the groundwork for ASAP's DUSU debut.
'I am a Purvanchali,' Chand said. 'But in ABVP or NSUI, you won't see people like me getting a ticket. It's always the Jats and Gurjars, those who have wealth, cars, and local clout.'
DUSU polls, despite being the country's most-watched student election, have long reflected the limitations of representation.
A 1.5 lakh-strong electorate across 52 colleges, and yet, year after year, the central panel features candidates from the same two caste groups: Jats and Gurjars.
'Regional advantage,' as many in DU call it.
In 2023, ABVP had fielded Tushar Dedha, a Gurjar, for the president's post, while NSUI nominated Hitesh Gulia, a Jat. A similar pattern followed in earlier years too.
It's this chokehold that Amit Dedha (30), formerly state secretary with Congress's OBC wing, said he wants to break. Having served as NSUI's Delhi face for seven years, he joined ASAP 20 days ago.
'It's not just ABVP. Even NSUI operates with the same playbook – fielding only those who have the funds. But so many students from UP and Bihar are coming to DU now. They're left with no voice because the candidate list is already locked based on wealth and caste. ASAP gives them a new avenue.'
Despite its new face, ASAP's roots remain tied to CYSS, which last year officially sat out of DUSU elections for the second year in a row. AAP leaders attributed this to a combination of setbacks – including a loss in PU polls – and a redirection of energies towards the Delhi elections.
Still, CYSS maintained its presence on campus through symbolic actions like the 'Mashal March' in April after Kejriwal's arrest in the excise policy case. Now, ASAP seeks to convert that appetite into votes.
Yuvraj Singh (20), once BJP's youth spokesperson and a long-time ABVP campaigner, is part of this pivot.
'My family has been with the BJP since the Emergency. But what I saw from the inside broke me,' Singh said. 'Candidates were being sidelined, new ones were brought in, only money mattered. I had lost hope. Then I gained an independent perspective and I attended the ASAP launch in May. It felt like someone was speaking our language.'
Singh is now a second-year student at College of Vocational Studies and among the youngest campaigners for ASAP.