Delhi colleges count votes for own student unions, DUSU results tomorrow

New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) Counting of votes for student elections held in various Delhi colleges started on Sunday amid tight security ahead of the declaration of results for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) a day later, an official said.

The counting of votes began in two lots – starting at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. -- in keeping with morning and evening shifts in colleges affiliated with the Union.

The institutional authorities were instructed to count the votes of their colleges/departments/institutes/centres on Sunday.

Professor Satyapal Singh, Chief Election Officer of DUSU Elections 2024-25, said the counting of votes for DUSU will be held at 8 a.m. on November 25 in the Conference Centre, opposite the Department of Botany in the North Campus.

Voting for the top four DUSU posts took place on September 27 but the Delhi High Court had stayed the declaration of results till the removal of defacement by candidates.

Apart from the candidates, the results of the DUSU elections, seen as a barometer of Delhi youth’s political mood, are keenly awaited by the BJP and the Congress in the election-bound city.

Gains for the student wing of the Congress, National Students Union of India (NSUI), or the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) may set a favourable tone for the Assembly elections in February.

The AAP which has headed the Delhi government for a decade is yet to emerge as a worthy third player in DUSU elections that are known to produce leaders like Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Vijay Goel of the BJP and Union minister and former Delhi mayor Ajay Maken and former MLA Alka Lamba of the Congress.

The DUSU election results would come almost two months after voting as the Delhi HC, in an order passed on September 25, restricted the counting of votes till it is satisfied that the posters, graffiti, hoarding, and spray paint are removed, the vandalised public properties are restored and the losses suffered due to defacement are made good by the erring candidates.

On November 11, the High Court gave its go-ahead saying that poll results may be declared on or before November 26 if the university administration is satisfied that defaced public properties have been cleaned.

A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela took on record the status report filed by the varsity stating that defacement had been addressed in North as well as South campuses of the University.

Around 1.40 lakh students were eligible to cast their votes and pick four out of the 21 candidates in the fray for the four top posts.

Further, it took note of the affidavits filed by student leaders in compliance with earlier orders regarding the removal of posters, banners, hoardings, graffiti and restoration of defaced walls.

In the course of the hearing, the petitioner, advocate Ashish Manchanda, pointed out that several vandalised public properties outside the campus were yet to be restored by the erring candidates.

It had summoned candidates Bhaanu Pratap Singh, Ronak Khatri, Yash Panwar, Rishabh Chaudhary, Lokesh Chaudhary, Yash Nandal, Rahul Singh Dedha, Aman Kapasia, Deepika Jha, Aman Kapasia, Shivam Maurya, Himanshu Nagar, Aaryan Maan, Rishi Raj Singh, Rahul Jhansla and Priyanshu Chaudhary and ordered them to be impleaded as respondent parties in the matter.

After perusal of the video and photographs placed on record, the Delhi High Court said that it was of the "prima facie view that there has been extensive use of money and muscle power in DUSU and college elections contrary to Lyngdoh Committee Guidelines".

The court said: "This Court is of the opinion that elections, which are supposed to be a festival of democracy, have been converted into a festival of money laundering and defacement of public property. In some respects, it reflects the failure of the education system."

The applicant, advocate Manchanda, stated that due to DUSU polls, public properties across all quarters of the national capital have been defaced, in blatant violation of not only the applicable civil and penal provisions but also in direct contravention of the orders of the Delhi HC.

The application said that the aspiring candidates under the patronage of political parties have left no place unscathed, be it the buses, bus stops, Metro stations, public properties, private properties, etc and even police stations have been defaced by posters, banners, spray paints, and massive hoardings.

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