Dept that aspiring DU leaders prefer

Over the years, Department of Buddhist Studies has emerged as the nerve centre of student politics in Delhi University.

- Ashna Butani

All four winners on the Delhi University Students Union's (DUSU) central panel -- three from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and one from National Students' Union of India (NSUI) - are pursuing their studies at the department.

Also, nine of the 24 candidates, who were in the fray for the four posts, were from the department.

The students from Buddhist department have been dominating the campus elections. Five DUSU presidents since 2014 were students of the centre.

Students' union elections stayed suspended at the university between 2020 and 2022. However, the student politics returned this year with the university holding elections to elect five office bearers of the DUSU panel. University officials who asked to remain anonymous said the centre may not figure in the most preferred list of courses but it is very popular among those who pursue politics on the campus.

They said one probable reason behind this could be that the course was not as demanding as those of some more popular courses, thereby allowing students more time to dedicate to politics.