New Delhi:
The RSS-affiliated ABVP on Saturday won three of the four central panel posts of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) and the Congress student wing NSUI bagged one, according to officials.
Tushar Dedha of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won the post of DUSU president, defeating Hitesh Gulia of NSUI.
Abhi Dahiya of the Congress student wing held the post of vice president.
Aparajita and Sachin Baisla of ABVP won the posts of secretary and joint secretary respectively.
The counting of votes for the central panel posts of the DUSU, namely president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary, was completed on Saturday evening. The elections took place on Friday.
The DUSU elections have always seen a direct battle between the ABVP and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). The ABVP also won three out of four seats in the 2019 elections.
The DUSU elections were last held in 2019. The elections could not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, while possible disruptions to the academic calendar prevented their holding in 2022.
Twenty-four candidates competed for the four posts this year.
Chander Shekhar – chief election officer for the polls – said the university recorded a voter turnout of 42 per cent. About one lakh students were eligible to vote in the elections.
Although the voting percentage was higher than in 2019, when a turnout of 39.90 percent was recorded, it could not surpass the almost eleven-year high figure of 2018.
Turnout in 2018 and 2017 was 44.46 percent and 42.8 percent respectively.
The elections to the central panel in 52 colleges and departments were held through electronic voting machines (EVMs), while voting for the college union polls was done through paper ballots.
For students, the core issues ranged from fee hikes to the lack of affordable accommodation, improved safety during university parties and menstrual leave.
The ABVP, Congress-affiliated NSUI, CPI(M)-backed Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and CPI(ML)-Liberation-linked All India Students’ Association (AISA) had fielded candidates for all four the central posts.
The DUSU is the main representative body for most colleges and faculties. Each college also has its own student association, for which elections are held annually.
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