NEW DELHI: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) swept several Delhi University college union polls on Friday, winning all contested posts at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Bharti College, even as voting for the four central Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) posts concluded.At SRCC, ABVP candidates won all four contested positions, including president, secretary and two councillor seats, by a large margin, according to updates shared by student organisations, news agency PTI reported.The RSS-affiliated student organisation also won all eight contested positions at Bharti College and swept all posts at Aditi Mahavidyalaya.At Sri Aurobindo College (Morning), ABVP won all six posts.At Keshav Mahavidyalaya, ABVP candidates secured the president, vice-president and secretary posts, while at Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, the organisation won the president and secretary posts along with two central councillor seats.The college-level results were declared as voting for the DUSU central panel was underway across the university.Polling for the four posts – president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary – ended on Friday, with counting scheduled for Saturday at the Multipurpose Hall of the University Sports Stadium in North Campus.The DUSU contest saw ABVP and Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) square off, while the AISA-SFI alliance was also in the fray, PTI reported.The Students’ Federation of India (SFI), meanwhile, registered a win at Bhaskaracharya College, where Archi, a member of SFI’s Delhi state committee, was elected president of the college students’ union.The college-level results came amid discussions among students over accountability, student representation and everyday concerns on campus.The CJP protest in recent months also featured in conversations around the polls, with some students saying it had prompted them to look more closely at what different student organisations stood for and the issues they sought to raise.Affordable and safe accommodation emerged as one of the key concerns among students, along with functioning college hostels, affordable food, transport, metro concessions and a more accessible university administration.“Accommodation is the first and foremost demand. Rents are very high. Some DU colleges have hostels, but they either do not function properly or are closed. They should be reopened,” said Harsh Pandey, a first-year BCom student of Motilal Nehru College.Kriti Kumar, a second-year student of Ramjas College, said the cost of studying in Delhi went beyond college fees, with rent, food and transport adding to students’ financial burden, PTI reported.“The cost of studying in the DU is no longer limited to fees. Rent, food, transport and other expenses add up quickly. We want the DUSU to take up the everyday financial pressures faced by students, especially those who come to Delhi from other states,” she said.Students also raised concerns over the functioning of the university administration and sought more accessible systems for dealing with issues such as medical leave and other paperwork.Security arrangements remained tight during polling, with police barricading college entrances and frisking students.A university official said more than 2,000 police and paramilitary personnel had been deployed across the North and South campuses.The election was not without allegations from the rival student organisations.ABVP alleged that an NSUI worker was caught distributing an incorrect ABVP panel number shortly before voting, while NSUI national president Vinod Jakhar alleged that a former national secretary of the organisation was detained by police without any reason during the election.The results for the DUSU central panel will be declared after counting on Saturday.(With agency inputs)
