DUSU Elections Results: Big Win For NSUI as it Bags Prez, VP Posts
Catch all the live updates of the DUSU elections 2017 here.
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For the first time since 2012, the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) has bagged the post of the president in the Delhi University Students’ Union elections. The main contestants for the presidential post were Rajat Choudhary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Rocky Tuseed of NSUI, Parul Chauhan of the All-India Students Association (AISA), and independent candidates Raja Choudury and Alka. Elections to the student body were held on 12 September.
Catch all the live updates at The Quint!
- NSUI to go to HC over dissatisfaction of vote count
- NSUI’s Rocky Tuseed has won the post of the president in DUSU elections
- This is the first time that NSUI has bagged the post of the president since 2012
- ABVP has won the posts of general secretary and joint secretary
- DUSU elections took place on 12 September and saw a voter turnout of 44%
Sonia Gandhi Meets Winning Candidates
Congress President Sonia Gandhi met the NSUI winning candidates and members at Janpath in New Delhi.
NSUI Claims Tampering of Votes
The NSUI alleged that the DUSU results were tampered with. They claim the "personal intervention" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah altered votes. They have also threatened to go to the High Court.
AICC secretary in charge of NSUI Girish Chodankar told IANS that NSUI had won three of the four seats, including President, Vice President and Joint Secretary in the DUSU election. But the ABVP was subsequently declared victorious in the Joint Secretary seat.
NSUI to Go to HC Over Elections
NSUI claims to have won three and not two seats in the DUSU elections. They said they would go to the High Court since their demands for a recount of votes for the post of Joint Secretary was rejected.
NSUI Demand Rejected
NSUI supporters have demanded for a recounting of votes since their candidate lost by a narrow margin. Their demand, however, has been rejected, following which some of the supporters started a protest.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda Helped NSUI Win: Rocky's Father
Speaking to The Quint, Rocky Tuseed’s father, Kulbir Singh Tuseed said they owe Congress politician and former CM of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the victory.
NSUI Accuses HRD Ministry of Forcing Recounting
The NSUI took to Twitter that the Union HRD Ministry was pressurising the Delhi University to “manipulate” results through recounting.
However, the NSUI is reportedly asking for recounting of votes for the joint secretary post which it has lost by a small margin.
NSUI’s Avinash Yadav, who lost the joint secretary seat, claimed that senior ABVP leaders were present inside during the counting and the screen showing the video of the counting process went blank for as long as 30 seconds pointing to some irregularities.
Chief Election Officer SB Babbar however said there were no lapses in the counting as "DU is the only university which uses EVMs".
Watch The Quint's ground report from Delhi University
Congratulatory Messages Pour in
NOTA Highly Preferred
Out of the 43 percent voter turnout, a lot of students seems to have opted for the None of the Above (NOTA) option rather than preferring any of the parties’ candidates. For the post of the secretary, there were a total of 7891 NOTA votes. For the post of Vice President, 7684 NOTA votes were cast.
NSUI Demands Recount Votes of Joint Secretary
ABVP has reportedly won the seats of secretary and joint secretary. The NSUI has demanded a recount of the votes for the post of the joint secretary since the margin of votes between the candidates is slim.
Surjewala Congratulated NSUI on Their Win
Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala congratulated the NSUI on their win, saying that this will pave the way for Congress ideology to be strengthened across the country.
"Students Rejected Poisonous & Divisive RSS Ideology"
On its official twitter account, NSUI said the results indicate that “students throughout the country have rejected the poisonous and divisive ideology of RSS.”
NSUI Wins VP as Well
The vice presidential post has also been won by Kunal Sherawat from the NSUI.
NSUI Bags Presidential Post
For the first time since 2012, an NSUI candidate has won the presidential post in DUSU elections. ABVP has won the post of general secretary.
After a Rocky Start, Rocky Tuseed Takes the Lead
As per the latest numbers, NSUI is leading in three posts, including the presidential post.
NSUI’s candidate for the post of the president, Rocky Tuseed, who had a rocky start, is leading along with Avinash and Kunal from NSUI.
Other members of NSUI were seen breaking into a victory dance to “We Will Rock You” in the hopes of winning the elections.
ABVP Confident of a Win
ABVP's spokesperson Saket Bahuguna said that his party was confident that the students of the Delhi University will give them yet another mandate this year.
Caste Politics in DUSU Polls: NSUI
Speaking to The Quint, the State President of NSUI said that ABVP was leading in all four seats in the first 7 rounds of counting. There are nine more rounds of counting to go before the results will be declared.
“There's some caste politics involved in here too. ABVP has put up two students from the Gujjar community but there's no Gujjar face in our panel,” he said.
Neck-and-Neck Competition for Presidential Post
Sources told The Quint that ABVP is currently leading. The race for the presidential post is neck-and-neck.
Counting Underway
Counting of votes for DUSU elections is underway at a community hall near Kingsway Camp today amid tight security.
The main contestants for the DUSU presidential post are ABVP's Rajat Choudhary, NSUI's Rocky Tuseed, AISA's Parul Chauhan, independent candidate Raja Choudury and Alka.
Representatives of major students political outfits were among those present outside counting centre.
Final results are expected at around 12 noon.
Last year, the ABVP had bagged three posts while NSUI made a comeback, winning the post of Joint Secretary.
Ambiguity Over Whether Counting of Votes Will Be Video Recorded
Counting of votes will be held on Wednesday in the Community Hall, Police Lines, Kingsway camp, said a notification from the office of Chief Election Officer (CEO).
There is still ambiguity about whether the counting will be video recorded as requested by the NSUI alleging corruption in the vote count done by partisan elements.
"We had approached the CEO with a request to video record the counting process but we never received a formal reply from him," an NSUI member told IANS.
DUSU Battle on, 44% Turnout So Far
From the 51 colleges whose students elect the DUSU, the percentage of voting in 32 institutions where votes had been counted was 44 percent, Chief Election Officer SB Babbar told IANS, while the counting at nine colleges remains to be done.
According to sources, there was 65 percent voting in Hindu College, over 50 percent in Ramjas College, 40 percent in Deshbandhu College, 58 percent in Shri Ram College of Commerce, 58 percent in Rajdhani College and 53 percent in ARSD College.
HC Gives Go Ahead to Declare Presidential Poll Result
The Delhi High Court has given a go-ahead to the Delhi University to declare the results for the post of President in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) election on Wednesday.
The counting of votes is scheduled for Wednesday.
The order came after the university contended that partial counting of votes would not be possible as the polls were being conducted through electronic voting machine (EVM) which consists of a single control unit.
ABVP Students Prepare for Celebration
"Expecting More Space for Dissent"
“I have come here for change. I am expecting more space for dissent in the campus,” a student said.
"We Should be Responsible Students"
“As law students we understand the gravity of law. We should be responsible, we can’t treat it as a holiday,” a student of Law Faculty who came to cast his vote said.
"Hope there's Less Violence in the University"
“We’re voting because it’s a fundamental right but also because we want development in the college. We don’t want money or muscle power to win. I hope that there is less violence in the campus unlike the recent times,” Shubham, a student from DU said.
Low Voter Turnout
The police have blocked roads, allowing only the entry of students in the university premises. The voter turnout for the first round of voting was low.
Voting Commences
The voting for DUSU elections began at 8:30. It is expected to continue till 1 pm for morning colleges.
Notice Issued to DUSU Poll Candidates for Defacing Public Property
The Delhi High Court issued show cause notices to candidates of various parties contesting the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections on Tuesday as to why action should not be taken against them for allegedly defacing public property with their posters.
The high court also pulled up the Delhi police for not taking action or arresting those who did deface public property, which attracts a maximum jail term of 10 years, PTI reported.
“The offences are cognisable, non-bailable and liable for imprisonment. The concerned deputy commissioner of police ( DCP ) shall inform the court about who they have taken action against. The DCP shall also file a status report and explain why cases haven’t been registered under the provisions of the DMRC Act,” the bench said.
The court issued show cause notice to over 10 candidates of various parties, including RSS-backed ABVP and Congress- backed NSUI. The bench also asked the Election Commission of DU to ensure that notice is served to candidates.
The police said they have lodged 33 FIRs in this regard and issued direction that any illegal defacement of properties will be dealt with heavy hands.
The court, however, asked, "How many have been arrested? Can't you identify the people? Whose posters are they? Under which sections FIRs have been lodged? We had asked you to take action. What have you done?"
DUSU Elections Today
Delhi University is geared up for the annual Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, on Tuesday, 12 September.
The elections for the four posts of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary are once again expected to be a contest between the conventional bigwigs of student politics – the Congress' National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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