New Delhi:
Around 42 per cent students today exercised their franchise in the keenly contested Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) elections which were dominated this year by issues such as right to accommodation, women security and transport problems faced by varsity students.
The Chief Election Officer for DUSU elections, D S Rawat, said the voting went off peacefully.
"The elections in the morning from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm went off smoothly. Minor glitches were reported in the EVM machines at 4-5 polling centres but were rectified soon.
"The university had deployed 26 observers who visited the 50 centres where the polling took place in teams of two to check violations of code of conduct. DU administration had also installed CCTV cameras besides hiring commercial videographers to record election activities to ensure free and fair polling," he added.
The voting percentage for evening college students, which took place from 3 pm to 7 pm in the second leg, will be declared later.
The counting of votes will be taken up on Saturday after which the results will be declared, Rawat said.
According to Deputy Commissioner (North Delhi) Madhur Verma, the polling went off peacefully and no incidents of violence were reported.
"A huge contingent of police was deployed at various polling centres of the university to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. The movement of vehicles was also restricted on Chatra Marg in North Campus to avoid any chaos or discomfort to students. The polling was peaceful," he said.
Over one lakh students were eligible to cast vote in the DUSU polls for the four crucial posts - the President, Vice President, Secretary and Joint Secretary.
Seven candidates each for the posts of President and Joint Secretary, six for the post of Vice President and 8 nominees for the post of Secretary are in the poll fray.
"We are hopeful that the Modi wave will yield fruitful results here too and we will emerge victorious on the four posts," National Secretary of the BJP affiliated student union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Rohit Chahal, said.
Interestingly, the Students' Federation of India (SFI), Arunachal Students' Federation (ASF) and All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) have come together this time to form an alliance called Left Students' Front (LSF).
Another new entry in the poll fray is Chanakya Parishad.
"The DUSU polls this time are much more than the traditional NSUI-ABVP contest. The students are also looking for new representatives who can take up their issues rather than just indulging in politics on campus," Chanakya Parishad's President Mantosh Sharma said.
The students, who turned up to cast their vote, seemed excited about participating in the student polls.
DUSU is the representative body of the students from most colleges and faculties of the varsity. The polls have been keenly contested over decades and have also been a stepping stone to party politics for some prominent leaders.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay and BJP leader Vijay Goel are among the many national and state-level politicians who began their political career at DUSU.
Last year, the DUSU polls were swept by BJP-affiliated ABVP. While ABVP candidate Raju Rawat was elected as the joint secretary, Aman Awana and Utkarsh Chaudhary were elected as president and vice-president respectively.
The Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) managed to win only one seat with Karishma Thakur being elected as the secretary.