Ahead of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has accused the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of promoting violence and frustration.

Kanhaiya Kumar, the AICC in charge of the NSUI, and NSUI President Neeraj Kundan alleged that the ABVP, with the backing of the administration and the Delhi Police, was conspiring to disrupt the peaceful academic environment of the campus.

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Reacting to the allegations, Ashutosh Singh, media convener of the ABVP, said, “We vehemently deny any involvement in the violent acts in the past few days in Delhi University.”

Putting forward videos of the NSUI workers carrying sticks assaulting students, Singh said it is, in fact, the rival group’s workers who were involved in such an act.

However, at a press conference at the Congress Headquarters, NSUI president Kundan expressed concern over the administration’s alleged bias in favour of the ABVP. “What could be the effect of this kind of criminal activities being promoted on the campus will have on the students? When such videos go viral, it will cause panic among their parents too,” Kundan said.

The former JNU Students Union president also asserted that the NSUI will stand firm against such nefarious designs, not to be bogged down by the intimidatory tactics of the ABVP.

He pointed out that despite access to ample resources and government support, the ABVP was resorting to violence and hooliganism, which, he said, reflects on their fear of a potential defeat.

He also criticized the administration for extending the deadline for nomination and increasing the age limit arbitrarily.

Speaking to The Statesman, Abhi Dahiya, NSUI candidate for the vice-president’s post, said, “ABVP has been in power for the last four years while they (the ABVP) have no work to show to students and hence the violence as a tool to intimidate students at the time of election.”

Questioning the ABVP stand on the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) seat distribution system, he said, “They talk of standing for student issues while supporting the CUET seat allocation system in University, which lacks transparency in the admission process. Earlier, students used to apply for colleges using their own discretion according to the cut-off percentage. But now, colleges are automatically allocated by the preference seat.”

He also accused the ABVP of diverting attention from its own actions by falsely implicating the NSUI in violence.

The NSUI released a 10-point manifesto for the DUSU polls that includes issues like menstrual leave, violence-free campus, grievance redressal, and improved infrastructure.

The Delhi University is holding student union elections for the first time since 2019, with a four-year break forced by pandemic-induced restrictions