The upcoming Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls are set to be a fierce contest between three major students bodies as they gear up for mounting their respective campaigns.

The RSS affiliated ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), the Congress-backed NSUI (National Students’ Union of India), and the Left student’s body, AISA (All India Students Association), will be in the fray to fight the DUSU polls on 12 September.

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The ABVP has already announced its list of 10 “eligible” candidates, out of which four will be “shortlisted” by 5 September. It also launched its campaign last Friday by visiting colleges and hostels to reach out to students.

Its Delhi media convenor Ashutosh Singh said, “This year our agenda is to get new hostels for girls and boys and ensure the introduction of the supplementary exam.”

Singh said the final four ABVP candidates will be selected out of these 10 nominees, adding that the final list will be announced on 5 September.

The NSUI will kick off its campaign on Tuesday. Ruchi Gupta, national in-charge of the NSUI, said, “The NSUI is going to blow the whistle on inequality in Delhi University. There is pervasive inequality in DU ~ between campuses, between colleges, between students (caste, region, linguistic, rural vs urban etc), between morning and evening. The RSS edifice is a bully on inequality: upper-caste over lower caste, one religion over another, rich over poor, powerful over weak. NSUI will raise this pervasive inequality in our educational institutions and our country.”

Akshay Lakra, NSUI’s Delhi president, said they would also bring up the discussion of the issue of Sarvakar’s statue on the DU campus.

The AISA has shortlisted a candidate so far for the DUSU elections.

An AISA member Shreya said, “We will be starting our campaigning in a day or two probably, but we have shortlisted one candidate, Damini Kin, who will be contesting the elections, the post is yet to be decided.”

She also said, “This year our focus is on cheaper travel for students, they should get Metro concessional passes. We want the students to reject the present model of DUSU, that is fake degrees, statues and violence and opt for a better version. At last, we will also focus on more hostels and cheap accommodation for students.”

Last year, the AISA had tied up with the Aam Aadmi Party’s students body, Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS). This year, however, the AISA will contest the DUSU polls independently.