AISA-SFI Trails NOTA in Two DUSU Posts as ABVP Wins Three

The AISA-SFI alliance's candidates polled fewer votes than NOTA in two of the four central-panel contests in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, results of which were declared on Saturday.

The outcome came against the backdrop of a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led student mobilisation over alleged examination irregularities, paper leaks, unemployment and demands for greater institutional accountability. AISA and SFI were among the Left student organisations that participated in the mobilisation at Jantar Mantar, with AISA activists also joining a prolonged hunger strike.

AISA-SFI presidential candidate Ananya Raturi secured 5,377 votes, 1,067 more than the 4,310 votes polled by NOTA. In the secretary's contest, Stanzin Deskyong received 8,734 votes against NOTA's 7,884, a margin of 850.

However, NOTA polled more votes than the alliance's candidates in the other two contests. For vice-president, Akshat Shikhar received 2,383 votes, while NOTA secured 4,359. In the joint-secretary contest, B Parijaat polled 5,837 votes compared with 7,389 for NOTA.

The alliance had made student welfare issues such as affordable accommodation, hostels, concessional Metro passes, fee hikes and academic freedom central to its campaign.

Raturi finished third in the presidential contest behind ABVP's Yash Dabas, who won with 24,576 votes, and NSUI's Vijay Shankar Meena, who secured 22,523. Deskyong finished third in the secretary's race behind ABVP's Riya Chhawdi, who won with 21,650 votes, and NSUI's Namrata Chaudhary, who polled 14,869.

The election recorded a 40.46 per cent voter turnout. ABVP won the president, secretary and joint-secretary posts, while independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen won the vice-president's post.

The results alone do not establish whether AISA-SFI's participation in the CJP mobilisation translated into electoral support.