2 ex-DUSU office-bearers enter Delhi Assembly

Two former office bearers of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) today won in the Assembly elections here.
While AAP's Alka Lamba, former leader of the Congress- affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI), won from the Chandni Chowk constituency, BJP's Vijender Gupta won the Rohini seat, one of the three bagged by his party.
Lamba, alumnus of the prestigious St Stephen's College, had contested for the DUSU president's post in 1995 on an NSUI ticket and won by a huge margin. She quit Congress in December, 2013, to volunteer for the AAP.
51-year-old Gupta, who was elected Vice President in the 1984 DUSU polls and later became the President of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, defeated AAP's Charanji Lal Gupta by a margin of around 5,000 votes.

The DUSU polls, which has over the years come to be seen as a stepping stone to mainstream politics, saw six of its former office bearers sweating out in the Assembly elections.
Another prominent former DUSU face in the poll pray was senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, who unsuccessfully contested the Sadar Bazar seat, managing only a third-place finish after polling a mere 16,331 votes.

Maken's election as DUSU President in 1985 had paved the way for his political career, during which he has been a Union Minister in the departments of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Youth and Sports Affairs and Home Affairs.

Nupur Sharma, who was elected the DUSU President in 2008, had stood opposite Kejriwal at the high-profile New Delhi constituency. She was defeated by a huge margin of 31,583 votes.
BJP had also fielded Anil Jha Vats, who was elected the DUSU President in 1997. Vats contested from the Kirari constituency, where he lost to AAP's Ritu Raj Govind.
Also in the fray for BJP was Rekha Gupta, who was elected the DUSU President in 1996.
Gupta, who was elected as a councillor from Uttari Pitampura in 2007, had contested these polls from the Shalimar Bagh constituency. She was defeated by AAP's Bandana Kumari.

Among the prominent leaders who started their political careers as DUSU office bearers are Union Minister Arun Jaitley, Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay, former Delhi BJP Chief Vijay Goel and former MLA Vijay Jolly.