DU sees a spurt in ‘awareness’ events on simultaneous polls

Delhi University hosts events on 'One Nation, One Election' with seminars, talks, and youth parliaments for awareness.

Over the past 10 days, Delhi University (DU) witnessed a spurt in “awareness” events, including seminars, talks, and youth parliaments, on ‘One Nation, One Election: the Pathway to Viksit Bharat, 2047’.

A Joint Parliamentary Committee is currently reviewing two Bills on ‘One Nation, One Election (ONOE)’, seeking to empower the Election Commission of India to conduct simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies.

On March 19, Anirban Ganguly, a national executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and director of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF), delivered a lecture on simultaneous polls at Shyam Lal College. The event was organised by the SPMRF, which describes itself as ‘a nationalist think tank’.

In some colleges, events on ONOE were organised by the National Service Scheme (NSS), which comes under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Narendra Bishnoi, a programme coordinator of NSS’s DU unit, said the events were not politically motivated. “The programmes have been organised as part of our annual seven-day camp. We have a youth parliament every year, and students from various colleges participate in it,” he said.

Additionally, Samvidhan Support Group (SSG), a student outfit, conducted several small-scale talks at five colleges — Aryabhatta College, Shivaji College, Maharaja Agrasen College (evening), Acharya Narendra Dev College, and Lakshmibai College.

It also held a two-day programme at Jantar Mantar from March 26. A day later, its members submitted a memorandum to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stating that DU students were in favour of simultaneous polls.

One of the SSG speakers, Sagar Tanwar, said, “We are spreading awareness on the theme and making it easier for people to understand it.” Mr. Tanwar is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s youth wing.