New Delhi [India], September 19 (ANI): The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidates were leading in the President and Secretary posts, while independent candidates were ahead in the Vice President and Joint Secretary contests after the 17th round of counting in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections on Saturday.
In the President’s race, ABVP’s Yash Dabas was leading with 20,151 votes, while NSUI candidate Vijay Meena was trailing with 19,651 votes.
For the Vice President post, independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen maintained a massive lead with 26,341 votes. ABVP’s Ishu Maurya was second with 13,655 votes, while NSUI’s Virr Chatrath had secured 3,698 votes.
In the Secretary contest, ABVP’s Riya Chhawdi was ahead with 17,279 votes, followed by NSUI’s Namrata Chaudhary with 12,838 votes.
The Joint Secretary contest remained close, with independent candidate Vishesh Yadav leading with 13,346 votes. ABVP’s Lakshya Raj Singh was at 13,342 votes, while NSUI’s Gopal Choudhary had 13,293 votes.
Earlier, former DUSU president and Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) leader Arun Hooda had said that the student union election was not a close contest and claimed that ABVP and BJP were losing support among students.
Speaking to ANI during the counting process, Hooda said, “It is not a neck-and-neck contest; the BJP and ABVP are losing. This is the consequence of their actions. They told so many lies. What about the promise of 200,000 jobs for the youth, new educational courses, or hostels? Where is the fee waiver? Where is the security for female students? That is why the country’s youth are voting against the BJP and PM Modi today…the BJP is losing. Either NSUI will win, or the independent candidate will.”
Counting for the DUSU polls is underway in the Multipurpose Hall, University Sports Stadium, North Campus, amid heightened security arrangements across Delhi University.
A total of 20 candidates representing major student organisations, including ABVP, NSUI, and the alliance of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Students’ Federation of India (SFI), contested the elections. According to the final provisional candidate list, seven candidates were in the fray for the post of President, five for Vice-President, four for Secretary, and four for Joint Secretary.
Polling for the DUSU elections concluded on Friday after voting was conducted in two phases across 52 polling centres in Delhi University. A total voter turnout of 40.46 per cent was recorded, the highest in the last three years. Last year, the turnout stood at 39.5 per cent.
Ahead of the announcement of the final results, ABVP has claimed victories in several college-level elections. The organisation won all four key posts at Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Sri Aurobindo College (Morning), Dr BR Ambedkar College, Bharati College and Shivaji College. (ANI)
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