DUSU campaigning heads to finish line with clean campus & reform promises

New Delhi: Campaigning for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, marked this year by a strikingly clean campus under strict anti-defacement rules, will conclude at 8 am on September 17, with polling on September 18 and counting the next day.

Unlike previous years, when the walls of North Campus were covered in posters and graffiti, this election season has seen a visible change. The university administration, enforcing the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines strictly, has kept the campus free of defacement.

“We are happy that this year no defacement is visible in the campuses, which used to be our major problem,” DUSU Chief Election Officer Raj Kishore Sharma said.

The election committee has received over 25 complaints and issued nine show-cause notices to seven central panel candidates.

According to the election officer, Delhi Police have issued over 800 challans to regulate vehicle movement, while more than 500 personnel, including paramilitary forces, are deployed to maintain law and order. “Cancellation is easy. We can cancel the full elections. But we are teachers; our way of work is educative and not punitive. It is in the interest of students and democracy that elections take place,” Sharma said, underlining the committee’s reformist approach.

This year’s campaign is notable not only for its cleaner walls but also for the issues shaping the discourse. The three main contenders — the RSS-affiliated ABVP, the Congress-backed NSUI, and the Left-supported SFI-AISA alliance — have placed reforms, inclusivity and student welfare at the heart of their manifestoes.

Nearly two decades after DU last had a woman president, the spotlight has also returned to women contenders. Both NSUI and the SFI-AISA alliance have fielded female candidates for the top post, who are raising demands around campus safety, menstrual leave and stronger gender sensitisation mechanisms — adding a new dimension to this year’s contest.

ABVP’s presidential candidate Aryan Maan, a Library Science student from Bahadurgarh, Haryana, has promised subsidised metro passes, free Wi-Fi, accessibility audits and upgraded sports facilities. “Our goal is to make DU’s student politics a model where ideas, not money, decide

elections,” he said.

NSUI has fielded Joslyn Nandita Choudhary, a postgraduate student of Buddhist Studies from Jodhpur, who is campaigning on issues such as shortage of hostels, demand for reading spaces, campus safety and menstrual leave.

Anjali, SFI-AISA candidate from Indraprastha College, pledges inclusivity, gender sensitisation and opposition to fee hikes as DU polls near. With stricter rules, 2.8 lakh voters and cleaner campuses, campaigning shifts from poster wars to issue-driven conversations.

Clashes erupted between NSUI and ABVP at Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College on Tuesday, the last day of DUSU campaigning, ahead of Congress leader Ajay Rai’s visit. NSUI alleged ABVP attacked its Purvanchal supporters, calling it “hooliganism,” while ABVP accused NSUI and Congress of bringing outsiders to disrupt campus peace. Police were deployed following the incident.

Ahead of the September 18 DUSU elections, security has been tightened with extra CCTV cameras, 160 body-worn cameras, and over 200 personnel patrolling daily. DU administration also warned colleges against candidates luring students off-campus for recreational activities, holding authorities accountable for any mishaps.