New Delhi: Ashutosh stood on a bench and spoke, his voice booming with conviction: “It’s time for change!”

In the bustling canteen of Zakir Hussain College—packed with students and workers from rival political organisations—heads turned. Even the hecklers fell silent as Ashutosh’s words cut through the noise: “Vote for Pinki if you’re against the DU fee hike! Vote for Banashree for gender justice!”

“Dalit students have contested earlier, but ASA is the first Ambedkarite organisation in the history of DUSU to contest elections,” said Biswajit Maji, Vice-President of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association.

For a 3-year-old organisation, creating space for Dalit students, especially women, in Delhi’s student body is crucial but a daunting task. They are up against powerful parties like the National Students’ Union of India and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). These rival groups have deep pockets, strong political backing, and well-established cadres experienced in the art of campaigning.

“There is a lot of money and muscle power in the Delhi University elections, which is precisely what we’re against. Campaigners from outside colleges also come and pitch their candidates here. But all parties, especially bahujan parties, start small. People from our community have reached the highest echelons of power, but education remains evasive. So few among us have actually reached Delhi University, it is time for us to be in the student union bodies,” said Ashutosh, ASA President.

Ashutosh was among eight students who faced disciplinary action last year for screening BBC’s documentary on 2002 Gujarat riots at the faculty of arts, where he was a student at the time, an action that he has challenged. He is now pursuing a masters in philosophy.

Speaking to ThePrint, DU professor and national spokesperson for Bharat Adivasi Party Jitendra Meena said that in recent memory, no Ambedkarite organisation has contested DUSU elections. “I don’t recall an Ambedkarite organisation contesting elections for DUSU, where student politics is dominated by Jats and Gujjars, especially from Western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana,” he said.

According to Ashutosh, they had tried to contest last year as well, but the organisation was prevented from filing nominations.

The voting for the DUSU elections this year will take place Friday, 27 September.

Also read: DU Students Union election campaigns make grand promises, but no mention of LGBTQ+ or environment

ASA candidates & its campaign agenda

As a student at Zakir Husain Delhi College, Pinki wanted to be the class representative, and dreamt of entering student politics from thereon. But she was never given the chance.

“I was told I cannot be class representative because I am a woman and I was a student of the evening batch. I was told it would be very difficult for me to juggle class timings and coordinate with teachers,” Pinki said to ThePrint at her alma mater, where she had come to campaign.

As Pinki and Das walked around the Zakir Husain campus, they carried a sheaf of small white pamphlets to hand out to students. Rather than using large banners or placards, they have chosen to focus on a more personal approach.

As they hand these out, some students accept them distractedly, while others take the time to read. A few toss them aside immediately, and some even fold them into paper planes. But none of that matters to them.

“When we meet bahujan students while campaigning, they express so much support and solidarity, even enroll with us. Students of general category… if they’re well aware about caste discrimination or curious about the Ambedkarite movement, they engage with us as well,” said Pinki.

Finding space for Dalit women in student politics is extremely important to Pinki. She also talks about it in her campaign videos. “One person from our organisation went to file their nomination from (DU’s) south campus, but they were not allowed to. They were dismissed with just one question: ‘You will contest’? That’s it, no other reason was given,” Pinki said in one of her videos. “I come from a humble background, my father is an auto rickshaw driver, it is very important for students like us to represent ourselves,” she said.

Their campaign receives positive responses, too. “Of course we need a third party. Why are we given the choice of only two options?” a student said to Banashree as she greeted him.

ASA is focusing on five key agendas for their campaign—increased financial support for Bahujan students and opposing fee hikes in colleges; resumption of public transport to and from hostels (2 buses were flagged off last week following the abrupt halt of services in 2020 during the pandemic); more women’s colleges joining DUSU, since currently only five are part of the organisation; eradicating hooliganism from student politics; and putting an end to caste discrimination on campus.

The party has made the 2022 attacks on students at Miranda House by hordes of men, an important campaign agenda, and vow to end such hooliganism on campus.

ASA currently has 95 members. The student body says it functions on donated funds and has posted appeals for funds on their Instagram.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)

Also read: A professor is fighting DU casteism. She runs a street classroom clutching the Constitution