New Delhi, September 8
Though characterised by different milieu and tenor, the students’ union elections of Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University this time look to be sharing a degree of commonality.

Issues largely local in character yet with a bearing on national concerns appear in the manifestos of all the leading contending groups which are in the race for occupying berths on the top panel in either of the varsities’ student body unlike previous years.

But this not to forget that the campus dynamics in the former, which is
dominated by Centralist National Students Federation of India (NSUI) and
the RSS’ students wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarhi Parishad (ABVP), remain guided by the show of money and muscle power whereas at JNU which has a long tradition of Left politics polls, it is determined usually by active participation of students and face-to-face interaction all year around.

This Left bastion, stereotyped as one that delves more into national and international issues has promoted an alternative “progressive” political model to that of the right and the centre.

“JNU has been a seat of struggle for the education rights of people unlike DU and we want to defeat politics of money and muscle power,” said former president of JNUSU of AISA Sucheta De who won the polls with a historic margin.

Coming back to the issues, at DU the clamour on its new four year undergrdauate pragramme (FYUP) has become a question of campus democracy. Even the RSS’ students wing ABVP has pitched this in its poll agenda in an attempt to have an edge over its rival NSUI which has from day one maintained a studied silence over the matter.

Importantly, demanding a rollback of the FYUP, the ultra-left All India Students’ Association (AISA) had been holding protests since early this year on DU campuses while the AVBP held a protest on August 13.

“Our candidates have been leaders of campaigns and they are not just here to fight elections but are those rooted in campus issues. Our main issues this time are scrapping of the FYUP, women safety and responsible gender sensitisation committees,” said Sunny Kumar of AISA.

According to ABVP media convenor, Saket Bahuguna of DU, the mandate of this poll would have a bearing on the next year’s general elections. “The policies of the Congress-led UPA government and the state government have hampered the progress of students. In the National Knowledge Report by Planning Commission, by 2020 India is projected to have an enrolment of 20 per cent in higher education but till 2013 it hasn’t reached beyond eight per cent. The FYUP is not in congruity with any other university in the country and it has to be lifted,” he said.

On the other side, the concerns that top the priority list of student groups at JNU are campus security, in particular women safety clearly in the wake of the July 31 campus incident, hostel crisis, the merit-cum-scholarship and extending the research scholarship from five to seven years, strengthening the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), placement cell. The arrest of Hem Mishra by Maharashtra Police with naxal charges is another issue being raised by AVBP’s Mamta Tripathi. Democratic Students’ Federation (SFI-JNU), breakaway faction of SFI, sees the shrinking democratic space also a point of concern.

“Issues are related to campus and here groups have a consistent focus. They don’t campaign before polls but the whole year round,” said Arjun Sengupta of Students Federation of India.

Also, there is no shift in the methodology as far as the groups themselves are considered, be it the Left leaning the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) which adopt a rights-based approach for making their demands heard through protests while the NSUI and ABVP have their functioning on cadre-defined lines.

New Delhi, September 8
Yoga guru Ramdev today said that he would stay away from his Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar for the nine months till the next Lok Sabha polls. “From September 13 onwards, we would hold rallies across India in a bid to remove the UPA from power,” he said.

Ramdev was addressing a ‘Vyavastha Parivartan’ rally at Jantar Mantar which was attended by BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy and senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani.

Ramdev took a dig at Rahul Gandhi questioning his silence on most issues. He said Rahul did not understand many things even after studying abroad.

Committing himself to exposing the ‘corruption’ of the Congress, Baba Ramdev announced a countrywide agitation against the Congress government.

“Beginning from Madhya Pradesh on September 13, we will organise a mass rally and travel to all states of the country and even go outside to the US and Britain,” he said, addressing hundreds of his followers here.

“The fight is against the government and we want people to be aware of the large-scale corruption and black money that the Congress government is involved with,” he added.

He further said that he would himself travel across the country and address the issues affecting people such as rising prices. 

New Delhi, September 8
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) today exhorted the district and block Congress committee presidents, Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and the Municipal Councillors to ensure the success of party’s students wing NSUI in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections.

DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal asked them to introduce the NSUI candidates to the student community of Delhi University for the elections on September 13.

Agarwal was addressing a meeting at the DPCC office. The meeting was attended by NSUI candidates for the post of the president Vishal Choudhary, vice-president Kapil Sharma, secretary Karishma Thakur and joint secretary Kushank Choudhary, apart from other former NSUI leaders, district and block presidents of Congress.

“The NSUI has always fought for the welfare of the student community and held many protests to secure the democratic rights of the students. The way the NSUI conducted the Delhi University election in a peaceful manner was very motivating and rewarding,” said Agarwal.

The Congress leaders and workers have decided to work in the student community in their areas, and request the students to vote for the NSUI candidates.

While quoting NSUI national president Rohit Choudhary, Agarwal said the NSUI candidates had won the DUSU elections on their own efforts and strength and set a record in winning all the four posts. 

New Delhi, September 8
A 22-year-old youth allegedly shot at his girl friend’s father and thrashed her mother with a wooden stick in their residence in Jyoti Nagar this morning.

The police are searching for the youth identified as Pushpendra. He is a resident of Sangam Vihar. The two victims, Yogesh Jain (55) and his wife, Poonam Jain (52), are in a critical condition.

The police have registered a case under the sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act against Pushpendra at the Jyoti Nagar police station. They claimed that Pushpendra and the girl had been good friends when they were studying at school in Delhi.

“The boy held a grudge against her as she had recently separated from him,” said police sources.

Investigators said the incident took place at about 10 am when Yogesh (55) and Poonam, were present with their two daughters in their residence.

According to the police, Pushpendra who was allegedly armed with a countrymade pistol and a wooden stick, barged into the house to talk to one of the victims’ daughters.

“After a short conversation with the girl, Pushpendra began to shout at her. This led to an argument between the two. The girl’s mother, Poonam, who was present with her husband in an adjacent room, heard the commotion. She saw Pushpendra arguing with her daughter,” said a police officer.

Poonam rushed to rescue her daughter, but Pushpendra pushed her away. When the girl objected, he allegedly began beating Poonam with the wooden stick until she collapsed on the floor.

According to the police, Yogendra also heard the commotion and rushed to the room. He saw Poonam bleeding profusely. Before he could understand what was happening, Pushpendra allegedly shot at him in his stomach. 

New Delhi, September 8
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president and SAD (Badal) Delhi chief Manjit Singh (GK) said Daler Mehndi’s entry into the Congress would have no effect on the Sikh voters in the national Capital as Daler is an outsider who does not understand the community issues.

Sikhs in Delhi are traders. They want a leadership that can work out difficulties being faced by the community in trading as well as in daily life, he said.

In gurdwara committee election, they had voted in favour of the SAD Badal defeating the Congress-supported Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) led by Paramjeet Singh Sarna, Manjit said.

Now issues of the community are being addressed by the SAD Badal-ruled Delhi gurdwara committee. In Punjab, the SAD Badal is in power. It had won the Panchayat election in the state. It also won the SGPC election with a heavy margin, Manjit said.

He said the community has seen now that it has only the SAD Badal political party that can work for them. In the assembly election in Delhi, Sikh voters will exercise their franchise in favour of the SAD Badal candidates having an alliance with the BJP. Manjit said the SAD Badal leaders have started meeting people in the Sikh-dominated areas where they are getting massive response.

New Delhi, September 8
A man known to the police as the “best supplier of tiger skin” in India and who allegedly has the strongest network of tiger poachers in the country was arrested with two of his suppliers in Delhi on Saturday night.   

The accused, arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, have been identified as Suraj Bhan, alias Sarju (28), Naresh, alias Lala (32), both residents of Sonipat, Haryana and Surajpal, alias Chacha (65), who stays in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar area.

“Surajpal runs a big network of the illegal sale and supply of wildlife items. He has been in this business for more than 20 years. He is known to have contacts with about 50 to 60 families of Rathdhana in Sonipat and other villages, who kill animals for him He became involved in this crime by Khalique Hussain, who is one of the oldest wildlife traders. Infamous poacher Sansar Chand’s interrogation had revealed that Surajpal is rated as the best supplier of tiger skins. Chand also claimed that Surajpal’s network of poachers and smugglers is the strongest in India. Chand was arrested in 2005 and is presently in jail in a case registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. He was a big dealer in the illegal trade of wildlife parts before Surajpal,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav.

The Crime Branch was informed that Sarju is allegedly engaged in the illegal trade of leopard and tiger skins. “Sarju and his father, Daliya, were poachers for Chand,” said Yadav, adding that Sarju was supplying tiger derivatives to Surajpal.