Students flash their ID cards before casting their vote at Hansraj College on Friday. (Photo: Bunny Smith)
Students flash their ID cards before casting their vote at Hansraj College on Friday. (Photo: Bunny Smith)
The Delhi University Students’ Union elections saw a low voter turnout of over 35 per cent, even as 17 candidates from the RSS’ student wing BJP-backed ABVP, Congress-affiliated NSUI and Left student outfit Aisa are in fray four central panel posts. Last year, in the poll swept by the ABVP, over 43 students turned out to vote.
For nearly 1.25 lakh students, polling on Friday took place at 117 booths in 51 colleges, according to the DU authorities. The counting will be held on Saturday.
While the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have managed two back-to-back clean sweeps in Dusu polls, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Left outfit, All-India Students’ Association (AISA), are vying for a place in the central panel posts this time.
With NSUI-backed candidates doing well in the college-level student elections, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken said: “@nsui panels have swept to victory in Delhi University Colleges! We will win DUSU also!” Mr Maken even congratulated the NSUI acting president Amrita Dhawan for the stellar performance.
But bolstered by the two consecutive victories in the Dusu polls, the ABVP said it is confident of retaining all the four central panel posts. While seven candidates are in race for the post of president, four nominations have been validated for the post of vice-president.
In the high-stake poll battle, students said that parties flouted election norms. “Free movie tickets were distributed, canteen food was made available for free, and vote appeal were made through expensive billboard,” second-year student Sneha Mittal said. Despite the NGT directing DU to keep elections paper free, the college campuses were strewn with litter.
Aisa alleged “massive rigging and bogus voting”. “The Dusu elections held on Friday were marred by low participation and various reports of malpractice. The polling was at its historical low this year due to administrative failure on two counts. First, it could not complete admissions on time. Secondly, the DU administration failed to control the hooliganism and violations of Dusu code of conduct,” it said in a statement.
Tibia College saw the maximum voter turnout of 91 per cent, while Ramjas College saw a low turnout of merely 13.34 per cent.
