DUSU Polls 2023: Counting of votes in Delhi University Students Union election begins

NEW DELHI: Counting of votes for Delhi University Students Union elections began on Saturday and the results of all four central panel posts of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary are expected to be announced soon. Twenty-four candidates are in the fray for the elections.

The DUSU elections were last held in 2019. The polls could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 while possible disruptions to the academic calendar prevented their conduct in 2022. Chander Shekhar -- the chief election officer for the polls -- said the university recorded a voter turnout of 42 percent.

While the voting percentage was higher than in 2019 when a turnout of 39.90 per cent was recorded, it failed to surpass the nearly 11-year-high figure of 2018. The turnouts in 2018 and 2017 were 44.46 per cent and 42.8 per cent, respectively.

Elections at 52 colleges and departments for the central panel were conducted through EVMs while voting for the college union polls was on paper ballot. For the students, core issues ranged from fee hikes to the lack of affordable accommodations, enhanced security during college fests and menstrual leaves.

As for many organisations backed by political parties, these polls are a way to gauge the mood of young voters. This year's elections assume significance as they were held just months before the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has claimed to have won union elections in 17 colleges (day colleges) while the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed victory in 34.

The ABVP, NSUI, CPI(M)-backed Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the CPI(ML)-Liberation-linked All India Students' Association (AISA) had fielded candidates for all four central posts. The ABVP won three of the four seats in the 2019 elections. DUSU is the main representative body for most colleges and faculties. Each college also has its own students' union, elections to which are held annually.