Clashes between NSUI, ABVP at KMC on final day of campaigning for DUSU polls

The final day of campaigning for the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) elections took a violent turn on Tuesday when a fight broke out between the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) at Kirori Mal College (KMC).

The Congress-backed NSUI alleged that members of the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, attacked its Purvanchali supporters.

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The ruckus took place before the arrival of UP Congress president, Ajay Rai, who was on a visit to the campus to campaign for NSUI candidates for the DUSU elections scheduled for September 18.

On its official X handle, the NSUI accused the Delhi Police of inaction even after an attack by ABVP on some female students. “Outside Kirori Mal College, ABVP goons attacked female students while the Delhi Police, under BJP’s influence, stood silent. This cowardly attack is a failed attempt to suppress students’ voices,” NSUI wrote on the social media platform.

During a visit to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML), where the injured students were admitted, Rai and NSUI President Varun Chaudhary expressed solidarity with them, stating, “Students will now respond to BJP-ABVP’s hooliganism by standing united.”

However, in a press statement, ABVP leaders accused Congress leaders and the NSUI of bringing outsiders on the campus and spreading violence. “It is highly condemnable that Congress and NSUI are bringing outsiders into the university to spread violence and chaos,” said Sarthak Sharma, ABVP Delhi State Secretary.

The RSS-backed student group alleged that the visits by Congress leaders, Sachin Pilot and Deepender Singh Hooda, in the past few days for campaigning for the DUSU polls brought in large groups of outsiders with no connection with the students’ union or student issues. “This has resulted in female students feeling unsafe,” the statement read.