ABVP asks DUSU president to step down after fake degree row

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has asked Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) president Ankiv Baisoya, who got mired neck-deep into a fake degree row just after he took over as DUSU president in September, to resign from his post. The ABVP has also suspended him from all the organizational responsibilities, pending an official inquiry against him.

ABVP won DUSU elections in September bagging three out of four seats including the posts of president and vice-president. However, Baisoya's election landed into controversy as he allegedly used fake graduation degree of Thiruvalluvar University in Tamil Nadu. ABVP's traditional rival, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) was the first to rake up the issue of alleged fake degree submitted by Baisoya and demanded his resignation.

Subsequent to Delhi University (DU) setting up an inquiry committee to oversee the matter, NSUI produced series of documents claiming that Baisoya's degree was fake. Pending the inquiry report, no action was taken against Baisoya as he continued in his position as DUSU president.

In another development, the Delhi High Court on Monday gave Delhi University time till November 20 to verify from the Tamil Nadu University whether Baisoya's bachelor degree credentials were genuine or not.

"NSUI and other student organisations had started raising questions on the authenticity of Baisoya's degree and his admission. This propaganda is continuing since he came to power. ABVP at that time gave its clear stand that Delhi University has all the rights to verify documents and must do it to stop all the rumours. ABVP has always worked for student's welfare and does not support any type of fraud," read the ABVP statement.

Speaking on the issue, ABVP's Delhi state secretary Bharat Khatana said, "ABVP is an organisation is always committed to students' cause. This incident is continuously tarnishing the image of Delhi University Student Union and also raising the question on students' mandate."

Appealing the university, Khatana said: "So we request DU administration to complete the verification process as soon as possible and must produce the result in public domain. We also condemn the delay done by DU in the whole process as it led to much false information. If Ankiv (Baisoya) is found guilty then he must face all legal actions," Khatana added.

Reacting to ABVP's decision to remove Baisoya from all organisational posts, NSUI's Delhi unit president Akshay Lakra accused the ABVP of acting under pressure to save its reputation.

"It is clearly a decision taken under pressure given that the High Court order is likely to come on November 20 and Ankiv (Baisoya) is likely to be disqualified anyway. They waited for two months in an attempt to keep the DUSU presidentship with ABVP," said Lakra.

Demanding fresh elections, Lakra alleged that ABVP tried to save Baisoya and did not ask him to step down when the matter came to light. He said that the students' organisation did not even bother to set up an internal inquiry committee.