NEW DELHI: The Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections recorded a 39.77 per cent voter turnout on Friday as students voted for the central panel amid heavy police presence.
The election is a contest between the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the AISA-SFI alliance.
Voting was held for four central panel posts — president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary — along with college representatives.
By 7 pm, 44 EVMs had reached the counting centre as the university began moving the machines after polling. Results from at least eight evening colleges, however, were still awaited.
Officials had said 1,000 electronic voting machines were deployed, with 960 in use and 40 kept in reserve. Twelve control rooms were also operational during polling.
Polling began at 8.30 am, with the first phase continuing till 1.30 pm and the second phase beginning at 3 pm. Last year, Delhi University recorded a 39.5 per cent turnout, compared with 29.7 per cent in the 2024 DUSU polls.
AISA-SFI presidential candidate Ananya Raturi attributed the low turnout in some colleges to poor morning participation.
“The College wise turn was very low in the morning hours- can't say what could be the reasons. In Miranda House, the college had suspended the classes for today but still girls came to vote. Between 8:30 and 11:30 am, 1100 votes were polled already but in other colleges including Hansraj, Ramjas, SRCC, the voting turnout was bad in the first phase.”
ABVP has fielded Yash Dabas for president, Ishu Maurya for vice-president, Riya Chhawdi for secretary and Lakshya Raj Singh for joint secretary.
NSUI candidates are Vijay Shankar Meena for president, Vir Chatrath for vice-president, Namrata Chaudhary for secretary and Gopal Choudhary for joint secretary.
The AISA-SFI alliance has nominated Ananya Raturi for president, Akshat Shikhar for vice-president, Stanzin Deskyong for secretary and B Parijaat for joint secretary.
