CITY | Dusu polls

Both the ABVP and NSUI have planned their virtual campaign around highlighting information about their achievement and countering claims of rivals

NSUI, ABVP to hit social media to woo students

Learning from success of social media campaign during the Lok Sabha elections, students’ outfits has decided to equally focus on online tool to reach out to potential voters ( students) through social media campaign in the upcoming Delhi University Students Union ( Dusu) election.

The Dusu elections is scheduled for September 12. Both the bigger students’ outfits — NSUI and ABVP — will be using social networking sites for the purpose of campaigning and personal meetings. Congress’ students wing National Students Union of India ( NSUI) and right wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ( ABVP) has planned to form a separate team to monitor and carry forward social media campaign. Both the outfits have already developed a databank of second and thirdyear students to be contacted during election campaign.

NSUI’s national spokesperson Arish Ranjan Pandey told this newspaper that the NSUI has plans to utilise social media to campaign during in the coming Dusu polls. “Students these days are spending more time on twitter and other social networking sites. Virtual campaign will help us reach more number of students at lesser cost,” Mr Pandey added.

While the NSUI is relatively new in virtual world, the ABVP has decided to use this medium more aggressively this year.

ABVP national secretary Rohit Chahal said that the organisation has used social media during the last year campaigning and will continue to do this year also. “Apart from online campaign, the ABVP would also continue to hold personal meeting with the students and our activists will try to reach out to each and every student before the polling,” Mr Chahal added.

Both the student wings have planned their virtual campaign around highlighting information about their achievement and countering claims of rivals. Their social media campaign will focus on rollback of fouryear undergraduate programme ( FYUP), with a host of issues like women’s security, hostel accommodation for out station students and more buses to campuses.

“We will raise the issue of making the campus safer for women. We feel that the security on the campus should be increased and more buses should be available. We have to ensure our campuses are safe,” said Mr Pandey. On the other hand, apart from claiming credit for rollback of FYUP, the ABVP promises to take steps to improve infrastructure in colleges and libraries.