Slogans rang out on the streets of North Campus as students moved in groups toward polling centres, while campaign pamphlets littered roads and footpaths during the Delhi University Students’ Union elections on Friday. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, National Students’ Union of India, All India Students’ Association and Students’ Federation of India raised slogans and distributed cards bearing candidates’ names.
Students gathered outside colleges to ask peers to vote for particular candidates, and campaigners moved between campuses. After casting their ballots, many met at tea and ice‑cream stalls to discuss candidates, compare choices and debate the changes the new DUSU might bring. First‑year students formed groups, while selfie booths outside colleges drew crowds. For some first‑time voters, the election was also their first exposure to the scale of student politics at the university, with friends influencing their decisions.
Key issues cited by voters included infrastructure, fee hikes, menstrual leave and student accommodation, especially following the Satya Niketan incident in which a five‑storey PG building collapsed, killing seven people. A first‑year physics student at Kirori Mal College said infrastructure and laboratories were his main concerns and that he was persuaded by friends when choosing whom to vote for.
Campaign tactics extended beyond the campus. ABVP and NSUI distributed freebies such as drinks, chocolates, pizza and hand fans. Some students missed classes because of campaign activity, prompting professors to leave the classroom in frustration. Police and security personnel were deployed outside polling centres, with barricades at college entrances and vehicular movement restricted on several stretches. Students had to leave bags and mobile phones outside the polling areas, and digital identity cards were not accepted; many used physical college ID cards.
Children from nearby streets collected scattered pamphlets and sometimes redistributed them to students and passersby. Political party members approached students outside colleges, asking about their votes. For long‑time campus residents the choices were familiar, while newcomers from outside Delhi experienced the election as a blend of politics, social gathering and street spectacle.
