Clean Politics

Sworn rivals – NSUI and ABVP – join hands to clean university campus of election graffiti. Pledge to keep campus clean
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, February 03, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=2009020320090203023415575bc79d813) Members of two rival students’ unions, notorious for driving educational institutes up the wall by defacing their campuses during senate elections, started a drive to wipe their ‘war paint’ off Gujarat University (GU) walls on Monday. Over 70 members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) gathered at the university at 3 pm, and began washing out ‘poll graffiti’ scrawled on walls.

The members removed posters of candidates who contested Sunday’s student senate elections, and put white paint on some of the walls. Much to the surprise of varsity officials, the members also vowed not to deface walls of GU and other educational institutes in the city, henceforth. This is for the first time that NSUI and ABVP — which, despite strictures, have remained unapologetic about sticking posters and painting campuses’ walls year in year out — have resolved to clean up their act.

The members of NSUI, who removed posters and paint near the GU entrance opposite the LD College of Engineering, said that they would maintain sanctity of the varsity.“When we began cleaning GU’s walls, we realised how frustrating — and difficult — it must be for varsity officials every year to undo the damage,” the president of NSUI (Ahmedabad), Vinay Tomar, said. “We have vowed to contribute to the city’s cleanliness cause by not defacing GU’s and other colleges’ walls.” Tomar said that NSUI would ensure that educational institutes’ walls remain untouched not only during student elections, but throughout the year. “We will use only those types of posters which can be removed with minimal effort effort,” he said.
Members of NSUI and ABVP, which spent lakhs on promotional material, remove posters and put white paint on walls of GUThe members of ABVP, who spread out at the GU entrance off the road that leads to Vijay crossroads, said that they would avoid sticking posters on campuses’ walls. “Henceforth, we will minimise the use of posters in our campaigns,” the state secretary of ABVP, Chirag Patel, said. “We will make sure our candidates don’t deface campuses.”

Both the students’ unions said that they would depend more on newer modes of publicity — CDs, blogs, social networking websites — during the run-up to student elections. If NSUI and ABVP stick to their word, they and GU will save a lot of money : the two unions squander lakhs on promotional material and the varsity budgets a hefty sum for repainting of walls every year.

NSUI members vow not to deface walls of educational institutes Some of the candidates who contested the student senate elections on Sunday also participated in the “anti-poll graffiti drive” on Monday afternoon. "The Mirror cleanliness campaign has changed the mindset of many people, especially youngsters. I think the success of the campaign, which is helping reshape Ahmedabad’s image, may have led youths of the students’ unions to undo the damage they have caused on campuses." —Parimal Trivedi, GU VC