DUSU election 2023 results OUT on September 23: All you need to know about the high-stakes battle

ABVP, NSUI, DUSU Election 2023, DUSU Election 2023 Live, DUSU voting today — Image Source : FILE Delhi University

After a gap of three years, the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections were conducted for four major posts in which students from 52 colleges and departments cast their votes. The votings were conducted in two parts. While the students of morning classes voted from 8.30 am to 3 pm, students of evening classes exercised their right from 3 pm to 7 pm. Many first-year students were seen filming the scenes on campus and taking selfies after casting their votes. Supporters of various student groups were also seen raising slogans at the campus intersection, reiterating the poll promises of the student organisations taking part in the DUSU election. From tea stalls to autorickshaws, everything was decorated with colourful posters, pamphlets, and hoardings with the candidates' names and photographs.

The last DUSU elections were conducted in 2019. Due to the Covid pandemic situation, the election could not be held in 2020 or 2021. And in 2022 possible disruptions in the academic calendar prevented elections.

Security Arrangements

Around 600 EVMs were kept across DU colleges for elections. As students went to cast their votes, they pointed to a range of factors, keeping in mind that elections serve as a crucial platform for students to voice their concerns, elect their representatives, and shape the course of campus life. This time, twenty-four candidates were in the fray for the DUSU polls.

The voting started at 8.30 a.m. across all Delhi University's colleges and ended at 7.30 p.m. Security personnel and police forces were deployed at Delhi University's campuses for the election to ensure security at the colleges. Police personnel were also seen patrolling the campus to ensure no untoward incident.

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Number of candidates participating in DUSU elections

A total of 24 candidates are in the fight for the student body elections in 2023. There were 27 nominations for the post of President, out of which only eight applicants stayed in the battle. Of the 24 nominations for the Vice President Post, five will challenge the race, according to the final list.

The chief election officer received 24 nominations for the post of Secretary and 20 for Joint Secretary. After the withdrawals, six and five applicants stayed in contention, respectively.

Which political party student's wing is participating in DUSU polls?

This year, RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Congress' student wing National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the CPI(M)-backed Students' Federation of India (SFI), and the All India Students' Association (AISA), affiliated to the CPI-ML (Liberation), have fielded candidates for all four posts, including president, vice president, secretary, and joint secretary.

The competition between RSS-affiliated ABVP and Congress' student wing, the NSUI is said to be tough at a time when both the students' wings were playing the blame game for creating ruckus and violence on campus.

Agenda for DUSU elections

The NSUI and ABVP both released women-centric manifestos, promising the installation of sanitary pad vending machines, street lights, CCTV cameras on the campus premises. The NSUI promised to introduce a policy allowing menstrual leave of up to 12 days per semester, a violence-free campus, a Grievance Redressal Cell, no fee hike, a hostel for all, a free metro pass, a round-the-clock library, a railway reservation counter on the campus, an active placement cell, free WiFi, and better infrastructure. On the other hand, the ABVP promised full-time gynecologists and psychologists from the World University Service health centres. It also pitched for the implementation of dedicated university special buses and the construction of new girls hostels in every college. ABVP also promised to introduce an 'earn while you learn policy' to provide students with opportunities to earn while studying. The All India Student's Association stated in its manifesto that issues like fee hikes, rollbacks of the scheme for internal assessments, and free metro passes for students will be addressed.

The ABVP has held the president post seven times over the past decade. In 2019, ABVP won three seats in the DUSU polls.

DUSU polls: Names of the candidates participating in the elections

National Students' Union of India (NSUI)

President: Hitesh Gulia, final year law student (Completed Graudation, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College)
Vice President, Abhi Dahiya (Pursuing Masters Degree in Buddhist Studies)
Secretary: Yakshana Sharma (LLB student, campus law centre)
Joint Secretary - Shubham Kumar Chaudhary (completed his schooling from GD Goenka School)

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)

President - Tushar Dedha (Completed graduation from Satyawati College)
Vice President - Sushant Dhankar (Completed BA (honours) degree in English from Satyawati College)
Secretary - Aprajita (Completed BA (Honours) degree in history from Dyal Singh College)
Joint Secretary - Sachin Baisla, (graduated from Ramanujan College)