ABVP student leaders celebrate after winning the Delhi University Students' Union Polls. (Press Trust of India)
Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) which swept the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) polls for the second consecutive year today, credited the "Modi wave" and the party's student activism for its victory.
"The schemes which have been launched by the central government benefiting youth such as Make in India, skill development which will generate more employment opportunities, have been welcomed by the youth as what we call as Modi wave, DU voters belonging to the same age group voted for us," ABVP National Secretary, Rohit Chahal said.
"Student activism and fulfillment of the promises that ABVP made last year, also helped us to get this huge mandate. BJP does its work, we follow the ideology and do the same at our level," he added.
Satender Awana, the newly elected DUSU president said,"We campaigned for our work. Our leaders didn't organise gala events to seek votes for us, youth acknowledges the BJP government. It acknowledged our work too".
"CYSS' efforts were confined to banners only. They were unaware of ground realities. We will remain among the students throughout the year and fulfill our promises," he added.
Anjali Rana, who is the only girl in the new DUSU cabinet, said, "the security issues on campus have been raised by us frequently. ABVP had campaigned strongly for the rollback of Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) too. Our voter base has also conveyed the demand of more colleges to us. We will ensure we fulfill what we promised".
The ABVP bagged the posts of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary defeating National Students' Union of India (NSUI) candidates with a margin of over 4,500 votes each in the fiercely fought contest.
Candidates from Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the students wing of ruling AAP in the capital, which made its debut at the campus polls this year, could not open its account and were at the third position as per the overall vote count.
The keenly contested DUSU polls have always been considered as a stepping stone to mainstream politics.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, senior BJP leaders Vijay Goel and Vijay Jolly are among the politicians who began their political career at DUSU as ABVP leaders.