New Delhi [India], September 19 : The counting of votes for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections showed a divided trend at the conclusion of the third round on Saturday, with the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) candidate Vijay Meena leading the presidential race, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Riya Chhawdi ahead for the post of Secretary, and Independent candidates establishing leads in the Vice President and Joint Secretary contests.
In a battle for the post of DUSU President, NSUI’s Meena maintained the lead with a cumulative tally of 3,571 votes, leading his nearest rival, ABVP's Yash Dabas, by a margin of 441 votes. Dabas has secured 3,130 votes so far, while Left-backed candidate Ananya Raturi was trailing with 653 votes. In the third round of counting alone, Meena garnered 859 votes against Dabas’s 682.
The race for the Vice President's post saw a major surge for Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, who built a commanding lead after securing 1,008 votes in the third round, taking his cumulative tally to 4,264 votes. ABVP’s Ishu Maurya remained in second place with 2,389 total votes, while NSUI’s Virr Chatrath stood third with 664 votes, followed by Left candidate Akshat Shikhar with 282 votes.
The ABVP held the advantage in the contest for the Secretary post, where its candidate Riya Chhawdi led with 2,805 cumulative votes after adding 659 votes in the third round. Her closest opponent, NSUI’s Namrata Chaudhary, was trailing in second place with 2,332 votes, while Left nominee Stanzin Deskyong registered 1,225 votes.
The Joint Secretary contest remained closely fought, with Independent candidate Vishesh Yadav leading with a cumulative tally of 2,598 votes after polling 553 votes in the third round. ABVP's Lakshya Raj Singh was placed second with 2,199 votes, while NSUI's Gopal Choudhary followed with 1,958 votes after polling a round-high 558 votes in the third round. Left candidate B Parijat trailed with 811 votes.
The counting of votes for the DUSU Election 2026 began on Saturday, with results for the four central posts of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Joint Secretary expected to be announced later in the day.
The counting is taking place at the Multipurpose Hall, University Sports Stadium, North Campus, University of Delhi.
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.
The first phase of polling was held from 8:30 am to 1 pm, while the second phase for evening students was conducted from 3 pm to 7:30 pm.
A total of 1,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were arranged for the election, of which 960 were deployed for voting, and 40 were kept in reserve.
A total of 20 candidates representing major student organisations, including the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), National Students’ Union of India (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.
The main contest is between ABVP and NSUI. ABVP has fielded Yash Dabas for the post of President and Ishu Maurya for Vice-President, while NSUI has nominated Vijay Shankar Meena and Veer Chatrath for the two posts.