Sun Mar 30 19:31:57 UTC 2025: ## Delhi University’s “One Nation, One Election” Campaign Sparks Debate

**NEW DELHI, March 31, 2025** – Delhi University (DU) has hosted numerous events over the past 10 days promoting “One Nation, One Election (ONOE),” sparking debate over their political neutrality. The events, including seminars, talks, and youth parliaments, coincided with a Joint Parliamentary Committee’s review of two ONOE bills aimed at enabling simultaneous elections.

While organizers, including the National Service Scheme (NSS) and the Samvidhan Support Group (SSG), claim the events are purely for raising awareness, critics point to the involvement of speakers affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its youth wing, the BJP Yuva Morcha. A DU professor, speaking anonymously, noted that speakers were primarily linked to the BJP and its associated organizations.

One event featured a lecture by Anirban Ganguly, a BJP national executive member and director of the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF), a self-described nationalist think tank. The NSS, under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, organized events in several colleges, with a coordinator denying any political motivation. However, the SSG, after conducting similar events across multiple colleges and submitting a pro-ONOE memorandum to the Lok Sabha Speaker, confirmed its connection to the BJP’s youth wing.

A DU official defended the university’s stance, stating the discussions are purely academic and that DU is an appropriate forum for discussing government proposals. This echoes a similar initiative last year focused on “Viksit Bharat,” which many faculty members deemed a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The current events raise questions about the line between educational awareness and political campaigning within the university.

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