Yash Dabas vs Vijay Meena vs Ananya Raturi: Meet the faces of DUSU presidency race

Counting of votes for the high-stakes Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections is currently underway, with prominent student faces in the race for presidency. Among them are three big names - ABVP's Yash Dabas, Congress-backed NSUI's Vijay Shankar Meena and the Left AISA-SFI alliance's Ananya Raturi.

Every year, the DUSU polls are one of the most closely watched contests in student politics. This year, elections were held for four key posts - president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary. Follow live updates on the DUSU election results here.

While counting for the elections is still underway, the ABVP has already expressed confidence of a 4-0 victory against its competitors.

With results for the high-stakes elections still awaited, a look at who is in the presidency race:

Yash Dabas

Yash Dabas, ABVP's candidate for DUSU president, has many accolades to his name, including being an international-level tennis player. He hails from Delhi's Kanjhawala and completed his graduation from Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College and is currently studying in the DU's Department of Buddhist Studies.

According to news agency PTI, Dabas said in a statement that he has participated in International Tennis Federation competitions in Spain, Australia and Serbia.

He was also selected for CBSE Nationals, SGFI Nationals, Khelo India and the All India University Games 2023, and represented DU at the North India University Games.

Days ahead of the DUSU polls, questions were raised on his academic record as purported marksheet of Dabas began circulating on social media, with users asking students to "choose wisely". However, the ABVP had dismissed the allegations as a "smear campaign" against Yash Dabas, a PTI report said on September 11.

Vijay Shankar Meena

Congress-backed NSUI has nominated Vijay Shankar Meena for the post of DUSU president. Meena is trying to unseat the ABVP from the president post. Last year, the ABVP won three of the posts -- president, secretary and general secretary -- while the NSUI secured only the vice-presidential position.

Vijay Shankar Meena hails from Rajasthan and pursued his graduation in his home state. According to PTI, NSUI said in a statement that Meena is currently pursuing MA from the Department of Buddhist Studies at Delhi University, and has actively raised his voice for student rights, scholarships, hostel shortages and more in the past.

“Today at 8:30 PM, the counting will begin. I am fully confident that the way you all have shown me love, the decision will be in my favour,” Meena said in an X post this morning.

A day before, Meena said that the ABVP was “rattled” by how well the NSUI has campaigned and expressed hope for his outfit's future in the DUSU elections.

Ananya Raturi

The AISA-SFI alliance has nominated Ananya Raturi for president. Raturi, a PGDAV College student and an AISA member, has been involved in student movements on issues including sexual harassment and accountability on campus, according to the alliance.

She also has a prominent presence on social media. On Thursday, she posted glimpses from the last day of campaigning for the DUSU elections.

The AISA-SFI alliance has also fielded Akshat Shikhar for vice-president, Stanzin Deskyong for secretary and B Parijaat for joint secretary.

While Yash Dabas, Vijay Shankar Meena and Ananya Raturi are prominent faces of the presidency race, four other candidates - Ashmit Kumar (PGDAV College), Ejaj Mansuri (Campus Law Centre), Samarth Beniwal (Department of Buddhist Studies) and Sameer Kumar (Ramjas College) - are also in the fray.