NEW DELHI: In the 2024 Delhi University Studentsโ Union (DUSU) elections, the coalition of left parties, Studentsโ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Studentsโ Association (AISA), barely managed to surpass the โNone of the Aboveโ (NOTA) voting option. The combined vote tally for the coalitionโs four candidates was 20,827, just 79 votes more than the 20,748 votes polled for NOTA.
AISAโs presidential candidate, Savy Gupta, secured 3,906 votes, falling short of NOTAโs 4,411 votes. In the vice president race, Ayush Mondal from the coalition received 3,650 votes, again trailing behind NOTAโs 4,411 votes. However, there were two exceptions: the coalitionโs joint secretary candidate, Sneha Aggarwal, garnered 8,806 votes, significantly higher than NOTAโs 6,771 votes. For the secretary post, Anamika K received 5,676 votes, narrowly edging out NOTAโs 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, AISAโs presidential candidate, Aiyesha Ahmad Khan, stood third with 3,335 votes. In the vice president race, Anushka Chaudhary of AISA received 3,492 votes. SFIโs Aditi Tyagi, who contested for the secretary post, secured 5,150 votes, while AISAโs 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 coalitionโs 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 Universityโs students and have broader implications for student politics in the region. The Left coalitionโs struggle to gain a foothold in these elections reflects the broader challenges faced by left-leaning student organizations in a competitive political landscape.
