DUSU polls: Counting of votes suspended for today after fault in machine

The result of the Delhi University election will help major parties understand the mood of young voters ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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New Delhi: As the counting for the Student Union Election for University of Delhi is underway, NSUI is leading the polls with a slight margin; whereas RSS led ABVP is leading on 3 seats.    The counting for the same began at 8 am on Thursday to elect students for the posts of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary. Amid heavy police presence and some last-minute attempts to woo voters, the Delhi University Students' Union polls went off peacefully with around 44.46 per cent voter turnout till 7.30 pm on Wednesday. Polling took place at 52 centres in the colleges, where as many as 1.35 lakh voters have been involved in deciding the fate of 23 candidates in the DUSU polls. Last year, the election saw a 43 per cent voter turnout. Heavy police force was deployed in the area, with around 700 personnel stationed in the north campus and over 500 personnel deployed in the south campus. A person wearing a question mark sign was detained by police outside the Ramjas College, but after it was found he had a college ID card, he was let off. Some members of parties, who were seen canvassing for votes, were warned by the police personnel. Senior faculty members were posted as observers at the centres and around 700 electronic voting machines (EVMs) had been installed, the official said. In Vivekananda College, there was a delay of over an hour in the commencement of the elections, since there was no data available for students to vote for the treasurer's post, sources said. The voting resumed after the data was keyed-in.