SFI, AISA hold ‘mahapanchayat’ in DU ahead of polls; raise FYUP, hostel, safety issues

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) Hundreds of students joined a ‘mahapanchayat’ organised jointly by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) at Delhi University on Tuesday, ahead of the students’ union polls.

The two Left student groups said the gathering was aimed at highlighting “real issues” faced by students and accused the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) of failing to deliver on their promises, an official statement said.

The Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections for 2025-26 are scheduled for September 18. The votes will be counted the next day.

Addressing the gathering, Anjali, AISA’s probable candidate for DUSU, said, “The FYUP was forcefully brought into our campuses despite large-scale opposition.

"The university is not equipped with the infrastructure to accommodate the fourth-year students this year. We reject FYUP, NEP and the saffronisation of educational institutions,” she said.

Sohan Kumar Yadav, SFI’s likely candidate for DUSU, alleged that the outgoing union was marked by “social media gimmicks and infighting” while students’ concerns remained unresolved.

“This year, students will choose those who represent them throughout the year. They will choose the SFI-AISA alliance,” he said.

Another probable candidate, Abhinandana Pratyashi of the SFI, raised the issue of women’s safety on campus.

“Year after year, we see incidents of harassment. ABVP goons have barged into women’s colleges like Miranda House, Gargi and DRC. Even a woman guard at Lakshmi Bai College was abused recently. We demand functioning ICCs with elected student representatives,” she said.

AISA's Abhishek Kumar highlighted the hostel crisis, saying, “More than half of DU students are from outside Delhi. PGs are unaffordable, private flats are costly and cheap rooms are unhygienic. DU spends crores on fests but not on hostels. It is shameful.” The alliance also released a list of demands, including rollback of internal assessment and fee hikes, end to “bogus” SEC and VAC courses, concessional metro passes for students, and functioning Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) in all colleges.

Claiming that DU has been used as a “laboratory” by the RSS-BJP over the past decade, SFI and AISA leaders vowed to counter the “nexus of privatisation and saffronisation” in the campus polls. PTI MHS RHL