Much has been speculated about Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti’s (CYSS) exit from the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) elections this year. Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) student wing, CYSS,, forayed into the student elections for the first time last year. Riding high on its parent party’s success in 2015 Delhi elections, the party came in with much enthusiasm, but failed to leave a mark. What it did manage to do was divide the vote share so that All India Students’ Association (AISA) saw a drastic drop in the number of vote in its DUSU election kitty.

CYSS has decided to not contest the elections this year, right after the loss of debut elections. There are a lot of speculations regarding why the party chose to sit out the elections this year. Anmol Panwar, CYSS Secretary, said, “We decided to follow Lyngdoh Committee regulations from our first elections itself, but a lot of parties did not. The university largely does not prosecute those who violate the rules, even after having sufficient evidence to take action. Thus we decided to boycott the election to send a strong message against such blatant violation of election rules.”

But can the boycott actually make a difference in how the union elections function or is it just limiting the choices before university students? Panwar said, “See, the students are well aware of the current problem. Many students do not vote simply to stay away from the hooliganism that happens in campuses, which truly limits the democracy on campus. CYSS’s boycott is a strong message to show that such activities must be done away with.”

Questions have also been raised regarding the fact that leaders from AAP, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, came to Delhi University to promote CYSS, which is a contravention of election guidelines. So does CYSS really have the moral high ground to talk about transgressions of other parties? Panwar said, “ Last year, our party legislation along with Kejriwal did come to the university, but it was just to appeal for honest politics and not to promote CYSS. And if violations were made, why did the other parties stay silent? No violation was made; else we would have been served a notice by the DU election commission.”

However, not everyone is ready to buy the argument that CYSS is sitting out for such noble causes. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) Delhi State Working Committee member Anoop Panwar said, “CYSS is afraid of losing second time in a row to ABVP. They know they cannot defeat us and are well aware that this loss could possibly affect the outcome of Punjab elections. Rather than getting humiliated by another loss, they are pretending to hide behind Lyngdoh committee excuse.”

AISA echoed the sentiment. Its DU unit president Sudhanshu Kumar said, “CYSS needs its student union members to woo Punjab right now. They need all their resources focused on winning seats in Punjab and have thus sent their members to work there. Is CYSS claiming it will absolutely not come back till all the money and muscle power is gone? Sounds very unlikely.”

Anmol Panwar of CYSS clarified that the boycott has nothing to do with upcoming Punjab elections. He said, “We have sufficient strength to tackle Punjab election with CYSS’s Punjab cadre. There is no need for Delhi volunteers to campaign all the way over there. Student and youth of are the flag bearers of our party and are working tirelessly for the election campaign. People of Punjab have seen the good work of AAP in Delhi and recent surveys show that we will win over 100 seats in Punjab.”

Finally, Panwar is confident that the boycott of DUSU elections is a step in the right direction. He added, “We were always in favor of student politics. We will appeal to university administration and we are hopeful that the new DU Vice Chancellor will listen to our demands. We aspire to hold elections in such a way that the necessary information can come to students without wastage of resources.”

CYSS has taken a stand against the way union elections take place right now, and although the party may not be as honest as it is claiming itself to be, it is a definitely a step that will garner support against the abuse of political power taking place currently. Will the party stick to its promises and continue to protest against current practices or simply jump back on the DUSU election wagon when the time feels right?