Disclaimer: Despite multiple attempts of contacting Mr. Ahan Bansal for an interview, he could not schedule one—unlike other candidates. He attributed to having a busy schedule for his inability to give the interview; a claim we could not substantiate.

To remain a neutral party, we have agreed to publish the following piece which was provided to us by Mr. Bansal himself, with minimal edits to adjust for grammar. However, we are not associated with any of the following thoughts and do not and will not claim ownership of this article. Moreover, adjustments of this kind will not be accepted in the future.

The English Press Club recently interviewed Ahan Bansal, one of the three Presidential Candidates for the upcoming Students’ Union elections. Hailing from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Ahan Bansal is pursuing a Master’s in Economics (MSc. Eco) and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Instrumentation (B.E. ENI). Ahan began his interview by stating his previous membership of the Indic Club, Communo, and the Public Policy Club (PPC).

According to Ahan, he was entirely uninvolved in campus politics during his first year. In his second year, he campaigned for the current president Sarthak Agarwal. Afterwards, he remained disconnected from student politics until he joined the Students’ Union Executive Committee (SU Ex-Comm) in December 2023. Some of his work as part of the SU Ex-Comm included the creation of a sophomore kit, the organisation of guidance talks about Summer Internships and minor programs, the conceptualisation of a domain drive, and the extension of library timings to midnight. Apart from these Ahan had actively participated in raising awareness about MPower’s campus presence. 

He decided to contest the Students’ Union elections for the post of President at the end of his second year. Ahan stated that initially, he held several reservations about standing for the position due to the negative connotations often associated with the Union. However, these negative connotations eventually became a motivation for him. In his words, ‘I want to change the perception of the Union—to make it an inclusive body where people from all family backgrounds and walks of life, who are willing to make a positive change, feel encouraged to join. The Union needs to be stronger than ever before.’

His primary aim is to address these essential quality-of-life issues. Ahan stated that if elected, he would work towards implementing them as quickly as possible. On the manifesto point of installing Air conditioning in Hall 5 of the library, Ahan revealed that he had been in talks with the Chief Librarian since the previous semester. The approximate cost of the project was around ₹15 lakhs, and the Chief Librarian had assured him that it can be funded using this semester’s budget surplus. He added that if he were to face any funding issues, he planned to seek alumni donations as an alternative.

One of his other manifesto points was the renovation of South Park. He planned to plant hardy desert grass to hold the soil together and prevent dust issues. Second, he aimed to clear the weeds and bushes around the perimeter to increase capacity and reduce the breeding of bugs. According to him, these initiatives were needed as South Park was one of the prime locations on campus.

On a concluding note, Ahan talked about his idea of an SU grievance portal where students would be able to register complaints under various categories, such as hostel-related issues under the hostel category and the responsible person could attempt to resolve the issue. In essence, this system would ensure that the SU remained transparent and that said people were held accountable for their actions.  

As a final remark, Ahan asked the GBM to make a smart choice when voting. He stated that he believed that the quality of work should be the primary metric when casting one’s vote. He hoped that every voter made a rational and wise decision.