What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: In the 2024 Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, the coalition of left parties, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA), barely managed to surpass the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) voting option. The combined vote tally for the coalition’s four candidates was 20,827, just 79 votes more than the 20,748 votes polled for NOTA.
AISA’s presidential candidate, Savy Gupta, secured 3,906 votes, falling short of NOTA’s 4,411 votes. In the vice president race, Ayush Mondal from the coalition received 3,650 votes, again trailing behind NOTA’s 4,411 votes. However, there were two exceptions: the coalition’s joint secretary candidate, Sneha Aggarwal, garnered 8,806 votes, significantly higher than NOTA’s 6,771 votes. For the secretary post, Anamika K received 5,676 votes, narrowly edging out NOTA’s 5,660 votes.
This year, the Left-backed outfits contested the polls on a 2-2 seat-sharing arrangement. The results highlight the challenges faced by the Left coalition in gaining traction among Delhi University students, despite having a stronghold in Jawaharlal Nehru University, another central university in Delhi.
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Last year, AISA’s presidential candidate, Aiyesha Ahmad Khan, stood third with 3,335 votes. In the vice president race, Anushka Chaudhary of AISA received 3,492 votes. SFI’s Aditi Tyagi, who contested for the secretary post, secured 5,150 votes, while AISA’s Anjali Kumar received 4,786 votes for the joint secretary post.
The 2024 DUSU election results underscore the difficulties the Left coalition faces in appealing to the student electorate at Delhi University. Despite their efforts, the coalition’s performance was only marginally better than the NOTA option, indicating a need for stronger engagement and strategies to connect with the student body.
The DUSU elections are a significant indicator of the political mood among Delhi University’s students and have broader implications for student politics in the region. The Left coalition’s struggle to gain a foothold in these elections reflects the broader challenges faced by left-leaning student organizations in a competitive political landscape.
