DU elections: AAP to support financially weak students

The Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections will be held on September 18 this year and the results will be declared on September 19. The youth wing of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has started a new initiative towards cleaning up student politics. AAP's youth wing 'Association of Students for Alternative Politics' (ASAP) on Friday announced that it will support students who want to contest elections but are not financially capable. The organization said that applications will be accepted from August 15 to 25 and the selection process will be based entirely on merit and leadership ability.

Saurabh Bhardwaj's statement

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "If a student has the ability but does not have enough money, we will support him solely on the basis of merit. This is the beginning of an ideal political process, whereby the idealism of students will not be harmed due to free movie tickets and lavish parties. Now elections will not be decided only by money or muscle power, but by the merit and leadership ability of the student."

At the same time, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha said, "The basis of elections should not be car or cash, but leadership ability, eloquence and merit. Clean politics has to start from the college level itself. Financially weak but talented students should also get equal opportunity."

Highlights of the scheme

Application date: 15 to 25 August

Selection process: Based on merit and leadership ability

Students found eligible will be given assistance in contesting elections

Objective: No student's political dream should remain unfulfilled due to financial constraints

Possible impact

Political experts believe that this initiative of AAP can reduce the influence of money and muscle power in campus politics and can divert the election issues towards the real needs of the students. In the long run, this model can be implemented in other universities as well.

DUSU elections are considered the training ground of national politics and many big leaders have emerged from here. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see how much this new initiative of AAP affects the electoral equations.