Over 1.45 lakh cast vote in Delhi University Students’ Union elections

After weeks of intense pre-nomination and post-nomination campaigning, the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections were held on Friday. Unlike previous years, the campus was notably cleaner following a Delhi High Court directive that mandated the campus and public property be cleared of banners, posters and litter before vote counting could commence.

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Samyukta, a student from Hansraj College, expressed her relief at the cleaner campus. “Overnight, the campus has been cleaned, and now it looks way better than it has in the past week without all scattered flashcards of candidates, posters and banners,” she said.

Votes to be counted after Oct 21

New Delhi: The counting for the DUSU polls will be held only after October 21, when the Delhi High Court, which halted the process over defacement of public property by candidates, will hear the matter next, an election officer said on Friday.

The elections were conducted in two phases. The first phase ran from 8.30 am to 1 pm for morning classes, and the second phase from 3 pm to 7 pm for evening college students.

According to an official statement from the Chief Election Officer’s office, more than 1.45 lakh students cast their votes to elect new representatives for the posts of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary.

“A total of 1,45,893 students from 52 colleges cast their votes by 5.45 pm on Friday,” the statement confirmed.

Heavy police deployment at both the North and South campuses ensured the smooth conduct of the elections, with officers patrolling the campus on motorcycles. Twenty-one candidates vied for various posts, with eight contesting for the position of president, five for vice-president and four each for secretary and joint secretary.

The major players in the elections were the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Left-wing All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).

“We Indians are known around the world for our compassion for animals, yet there is a disturbing trend in our country of holding events, in which bulls or other animals are tortured,” said Atharva Deshmukh, campaign coordinator (PETA India). He emphasised that these spectacles perpetuated harmful notions of masculinity. “These events wrongly equate bullying animals with bravery, but true strength and valour lie in standing up for animals and other vulnerable members of society.”

Speaking to The Tribune regarding the protest, Deshmukh added, “Through this demonstration, we want to make people aware that any form of bullying is completely unacceptable, whether it is directed at a child, animal, or any other living being.”

Utkarsh Garg, another PETA India activist, called for immediate government action. “We need to stop such cruelty against animals, and the government needs to put a ban on them. We have come to the Capital to raise our voice against the cruelty,” Garg said.

PETA India highlighted the inherent cruelty involved in events like jallikattu, where bulls, being prey animals, are forced into fear and panic to perform. The organisation has documented instances where bulls used in races and fights are subjected to physical abuse, including being hit with sticks, having their tailbones twisted or broken, and being prodded with sharp objects.

“Since 2017, at least 42 bulls and 126 humans, including children, have died at jallikattu events,” Deshmukh said.