Over 1.45 lakh students vote in DUSU elections

New Delhi: More than 1.45 lakh students cast their votes in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections at the varsity's North and South campuses till 5.45 pm on Friday, an official statement said.

The voting will be held till 7.30 pm.

According to the office of chief election officer, DUSU, a total of 1,45,893 students from 52 colleges had cast their votes till 5.45 pm to elect a new president, vice president, secretary and joint secretary.

The data for the remaining colleges is yet to be released.

Heavy police deployment was made at both North and South campuses for smooth conduct of the elections. Police personnel were seen patrolling the campus on motorcycles.

Polling is being held in two phases. Students of morning colleges cast their votes till 1 pm and the second phase of polling for students of evening colleges started at 3 pm and will continue till 7.30 pm.

A total of 21 candidates, eight are in the fray for the post of president, five for vice president, and four each for the posts of secretary and joint secretary.

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the left-wing student body All India Students' Association (AISA) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI) are the key players this year.

Currently, the ABVP has the maximum number of seats in the student body and holds the posts of president, vice president and joint secretary. The NSUI holds the secretary's post.

Speaking to PTI Videos, national leaders of both ABVP and NSUI exuded confidence that their respective candidates would win.

"The ABVP has been extensively campaigning for the elections for the past few days. We were able to reach out to around one lakh students during this period. The ABVP has had a strong presence in the DUSU for many years. We have consistently stood by the students and raised their concerns.

"As a result, we are seeing a positive response and getting support from the students. We are confident that the students are with us and the ABVP will win the polls 4-0," said ABVP national general secretary Yagywalkya Shukla.

NSUI president Varun Chaudhary said, "This year's elections are not ordinary. They are crucial for saving the university. Over the years, a culture of violence has emerged in the university because of the ABVP. We have promised a violence-free campus." "In addition, we have also pledged to address issues like paper leaks and fee control," he said.

The race for the post of president is expected to be a close one between ABVP's Rishabh Chaudhary, NSUI's Rounak Khatri and AISA's Saavy Gupta.

Rishabh Chaudhary, who hails from Ganaur, Sonipat, graduated from Shyam Lal College and is currently a student of the Department of Buddhist Studies. Saavy Gupta is a third-year law student at Law Centre-2.

In the fray for the post of vice president are ABVP's Bhanu Pratap Singh, NSUI's Yash Nandal and AISA's Ayush Mondal.

The ABVP has fielded Mitravinda Karanwal, a third-year student of History (Hons) at Laxmibai College, as its candidate for the post of secretary. She is up against NSUI's Namrata Jeph Meena and SFI's Anamika K.

Aman Kapasia, a Hindi (Hons) graduate from PGDAV Evening College, is the ABVP's pick for the post of joint secretary and will take on NSUI's Lokesh Choudhary and SFI's Sneha Aggarwal.

In an order passed on Thursday, the Delhi High Court had halted the counting of votes of the DUSU elections till public property defaced by posters, hoardings and graffiti is restored.

The counting of votes was to be held on Saturday.