Delhi University’s (DU) executive council on Thursday mentioned a proposal to overhaul the student union election process by replacing the centralised voting system with a two-tier structure. Under the proposed model, students would elect leaders from their college, who would then vote to elect the four-member Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) panel.
The proposal was included in a DU report submitted to the Delhi high court after it reprimanded students for defacing public property during last year’s elections, DU officials said.
The court had halted the vote count for nearly two months until the defacement was cleared. Following the incident, DU’s reforms committee suggested alternative measures, including the two-tier election system, which university officials described as a possible future consideration rather than a final decision.
According to DU proctor Rajni Abbi, following the incident, the university reforms committee had shared a report with the high court. “The committee had reported on alternative actions that might be considered in the future,” Abbi said.
“Centralised single-tier DUSU election may be replaced by two tier DUSU elections whereby the colleges/departments/centre/institutes may hold elections at their own level and the President of the college union/department union/centre Union as well as the central councillors may be allowed to take part in Tier II election in which the DUSU office bearers may be elected,” stated the minutes of the last EC meeting, as placed before the council for approval in Thursday’s meeting. HT has seen the minutes of the meeting.
Several executive council members, however, opposed the proposal, arguing that it could undermine the democratic process. Some also questioned whether the issue had been raised in the previous council meeting, as the university claimed.
“The shift from direct to indirect elections would have far-reaching consequences and should not be implemented without broad consultation with students, teachers, and civil society,” said EC member Rajpal Singh Pawar.
Another member, Mithuraaj Dhusiya, said, “We strongly protested against any top-down approach to changing the DUSU election system. This should be a formal agenda item in a regular EC meeting and must involve student and teacher collectives.”
Meanwhile, Abbi said that the item was included in Thursday’s meeting to just report the issue. “We are not sure if this will be taken up at a later stage for consideration or even be included in the agenda for the next EC meeting. It is yet to be decided,” she added.
Several student organisations, including the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also protested against the proposal.
DUSU secretary Mitravinda Karanwal, affiliated to ABVP, also took part in the protest. She said, “The university administration is planning to adopt an indirect election system in students’ union elections with the malicious intent of weakening and depriving students of their democratic rights.”
Students’ Federation of India, in a statement, said, “This decision is coming at the backdrop of the incapability of University admin to strictly implement the regulations of Lyngdoh Committee especially after strict observance from the Delhi High Court last year. Finding themselves incapable to follow through its orders, the admin is now undemocratically, without any discussion with student bodies, pushing for the end of direct elections.”
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