Tight Race in DUSU Elections as 21 Candidates Vie for Key Positions

The Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections kicked off with students casting votes to elect representatives for positions like president, vice president, secretary, and joint secretary. Major contenders include ABVP, NSUI, and AISA-SFI alliance. Counting of votes is on hold pending removal of campaign materials.

Voting for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections began on Friday at the north and south campuses of the university.

Students from various DU colleges are casting their votes to elect new central panel representatives for positions such as president, vice president, secretary, and joint secretary.

Around 1.40 lakh students are eligible to cast their votes. Voting is divided into two phases: morning college students vote till 1 pm, and evening college students vote from 3 pm to 7.30 pm.

A total of 21 candidates are competing for the positions, with eight candidates vying for president, five for vice-president, and four each for joint secretary and secretary.

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

The race for president is expected to be tight between ABVP's Rishabh Chaudhary, NSUI's Rounak Khatri, and AISA's Saavy Gupta.

Rishabh Chaudhary, from Ganaur, Sonipat, is a graduate of Shyam Lal College and currently a student in the Department of Buddhist Studies. Saavy Gupta is a third-year law student at Law Centre-2, running as an AISA candidate.

The vice president post is contested by ABVP's Bhanu Pratap Singh, NSUI's Yash Nandal, and AISA's Ayush Mondal.

The ABVP has fielded Mitravinda Karanwal for the secretary post; she is a third-year student of History (Hons) at Laxmibai College. Her opponents are NSUI's Namrata Jeph Meena and SFI's Anamika K, who is currently pursuing a master's degree in Political Science. For joint secretary, ABVP's Aman Kapasia faces off against NSUI's Lokesh Choudhary and SFI's Sneha Aggarwal.

The Delhi High Court has halted the counting of votes until campaign materials like posters, hoardings, and graffiti are removed, and public property is restored. This order was passed on Thursday.

Currently, the RSS-affiliated ABVP holds most seats in the student body, including the president, vice president, and secretary positions, while the Congress's student wing NSUI holds the joint secretary post.

(With inputs from agencies.)