DU releases provisional lists for central posts ahead of DUSU poll

The Delhi University on Thursday released the provisional lists for the four central panel posts for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election, scheduled to be held on September 27.

The Delhi University on Thursday released the provisional lists for the four central panel posts for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election, scheduled to be held on September 27.

The four posts saw a total of 87 nominations following preliminary scrutiny. Of the 87 candidates, 31 were female. However, the notices with the lists, issued by Chief Election Officer Satyapal Singh, stated that they were subject to a further, more detailed verification.

The provisional list of candidates came a week after the Delhi High Court asked university officials to look into women’s representation in the student polls.

Of the 28 names for the position of President, 10 were women. Meanwhile, the position of Vice-President had 19 shortlisted candidates, of which seven were women. The position of Secretary had 22 names, including seven women, and Joint Secretary had 18 candidates, of which again, seven were women.

While some student organisations nominated one candidate per post, others nominated more, saying that extra candidates would withdraw their nominations by Friday. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad media coordinator, for instance, said six candidates had filed their papers, while National Students’ Union of India media department chairman Ravi Pandey said nine candidates from his party had been nominated for the four central posts. Left student wings All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Students’ Federation of India (SFI), which are contesting the polls in alliance, only nominated one candidate per post.

Saavy Gupta AISA-SFI’s Presidential candidate, said she was fighting the polls to ensure the students’ union was democratic and accessible. “I am fighting for a DUSU that makes women feel safer on campus, and one that represents thousands of common students such as myself,” she said.