DUSU Polls: Delhi University Students’ Union election today — Who are contesting, counting dates and other details

The Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections are being held on Friday, September 27. However, the votes will be counted on Saturday. The voting for the DUSU lections began at the north and south campuses of the university.

Voting will take place in two phases: students from morning colleges will cast their vote till 1 pm and those from evening colleges from 3 pm till 7.30 pm. Around 1.40 lakh students are eligible to cast their votes.

DUSU elections: When will results be announced?

The counting of votes will take place on Saturday and subequently, the DUSU election results will be announced. But there's a condition applied.

The Delhi High Court halted counting votes in the DUSU elections, putting forth a condition before authorities proceed with the election results.

A bench of Chief Justice-designate Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the election process may proceed, but the votes will not be counted until the court is satisfied that the defacement of property has been removed. The court ordered removing all defacement material, including posters, hoarding, and graffiti, and restoring public property.

DUSU Polls: Who are contesting?

The key politically-affiliated parties contesting the DUSU elections are Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The Students' Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students' Association (AISA) are contesting the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections jointly for the first time.

DUSU Polls: Key candidates

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

The ABVP candidates are: Rishabh Choudhary for President, Bhanu Pratap Singh for Vice President, Mitravinda Karanwal as secretary and Aman Kapasiya as Joint Secretary.

From the NSUI's side, Rounak Khatri will contest the polls as president, Yash Nandal as Vice-president, Namrata Jeph Meena as secretary and Lokesh Choudhary as Joint Secretary.

From the left-wing alliance of AISA and SFI, AISA's Saavy Gupta is contesting for President's post, AISA's Ayush Mondal for vice president post, SFI's Sneha Aggarwal for secretary position and Anamika K for the joint position.

What happened in 2023 DUSU polls?

In the 2023 election, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three out of the four central panel seats, including the presidential post. Tushar Dedha of the ABVP was elected president, while NSUI's Abhi Dahiya, the only NSUI winner, was chosen vice-president of the Students' Union.