New Delhi [India], September 19 : As the counting of votes for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections concluded its tenth round on Saturday, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) candidate Vijay Meena maintained a slender lead in the presidential race, while Independent candidates retained their advantage in the Vice President and Joint Secretary contests, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Riya Chhawdi held a comfortable lead for the Secretary post.
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.
NSUI’s Vijay Meena stayed in the lead for the post of DUSU President, after bagging 11,966 votes at the end of Round 10. ABVP’s Yash Dabas was closely trailing in second place with 11,472 votes, keeping the margin tight at 494 votes as counting progressed.
The contest for the Vice President's post saw Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen consolidate a commanding lead over his rivals from major student outfits. Shokeen surged ahead with 15,601 votes, establishing a massive lead of 7,763 votes over ABVP nominee Ishu Maurya, who polled 7,838 votes. NSUI’s Virr Chatrath stood at a distant third position with 2,268 votes.
The ABVP maintained its grip on the Secretary post, where its candidate Riya Chhawdi extended her advantage with a cumulative total of 9,953 votes at the end of the tenth round. She held a lead of 2,241 votes over NSUI’s Namrata Chaudhary, who secured 7,712 votes.
The Joint Secretary position witnessed an intense, edge-of-the-seat battle, with Independent candidate Vishesh Yadav holding a wafer-thin lead with 8,007 votes. He was closely pursued by NSUI’s Gopal Choudhary, who trailed by just 89 votes with a tally of 7,918 votes, while ABVP’s Lakshya Raj Singh remained in the hunt with 7,425 votes.
Counting for the DUSU polls is underway in the Multipurpose Hall, University Sports Stadium, North Campus, amid heightened security arrangements across Delhi University.
A total of 20 candidates representing major student organisations, including ABVP, 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.
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.
Ahead of the announcement of the final results, ABVP has claimed victories in several college-level elections. The organisation won all four key posts at Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Sri Aurobindo College (Morning), Dr BR Ambedkar College, Bharati College and Shivaji College.