Did ABVP Dominate the DUSU Elections by Securing the Presidency and Other Key Positions?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- ABVP wins presidency with Aryan Maan's significant vote count.
- High voter turnout of 39.45 percent, indicating student engagement.
- Presence of female candidates marking a historic change in DUSU politics.
- Allegations of violence and rigging during the elections.
- Focus on pressing student issues like campus safety and grievance redressal.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (NationPress) The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, successfully reclaimed the President's seat from the Congress-supported National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) during the elections held on Friday. Aryan Maan emerged victorious, alongside two other ABVP candidates who secured the positions of Secretary and Joint Secretary.
The NSUI's Rahul Jhansla took the Vice President's role. The ABVP's winning candidates include Kunal Chaudhary as Secretary and Deepika Jha as Joint Secretary.
In the race for the President-elect, Aryan Maan garnered 28,841 votes, while NSUI's Joslyn Nandita Choudhary received 12,645 votes. Maan will replace Ronak Khatri of NSUI, who held the position last year.
Upon conclusion of vote counting, the NSUI achieved 29,339 votes for Vice President, while ABVP received 20,547 votes. For Secretary, ABVP captured 23,779 votes against NSUI's 16,177. In the Joint Secretary contest, ABVP secured 21,825 votes compared to NSUI's 17,380 votes.
Over 1.55 lakh students participated in the election held on Thursday, which faced allegations of violence and rigging.
Notably, the 2025 DUSU elections highlighted the presence of female candidates for the top position, a rarity on campus for nearly two decades. The last woman to hold the DUSU President's office was ABVP's Nupur Sharma in 2008-09.
Voting was conducted in two shifts: the morning session commenced at 8:30 A.M. and concluded at 1 P.M., while the evening session was held from 3 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. across eight colleges.
The total voter turnout reached 39.45 percent across all 52 polling centers, equipped with 711 EVMs. More than 2.75 lakh students from over 50 colleges were eligible to vote in these elections.
There were nine contenders for the DUSU President's role and twelve candidates vying for the other three posts - Vice President, Secretary, and Joint Secretary.
NSUI's presidential candidate, Joslyn Nandita Choudhary, a postgraduate student in Buddhist Studies, focused her campaign on issues like hostel shortages, campus safety, and the demand for menstrual leave.
The SFI-AISA alliance nominated Anjali, a student from Indraprastha College for Women, for the President's post, advocating for gender sensitization, fee hikes, and the restoration of grievance redressal mechanisms.