As students vote in DUSU polls, social media and Satya Niketan tragedy dominate conversation

Students show victory signs amid the voting for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, at North Campusin New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Photo)

The road outside Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro Station was covered in colourful voting slips by Friday morning, as students streamed past to cast their votes in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections.

Just 12 days earlier, student groups had gathered at the same spot to protest after a PG hostel building in nearby Satya Niketan collapsed, killing seven persons, including five DU students. On polling day — which saw a turnout of 40.46% — the tragedy remained part of the conversation, but so did Instagram reels, freebies and campus-specific issues. For some students, repeated visibility was a campaign strategy in itself.

Familiar names

At Miranda House in North Campus, first-year English Honours student Shaily sat with her batchmates scrolling through social media posts. “Many of my friends decided to vote because they saw a particular candidate on Instagram,” she said.

Maintaining that representation was a concern, Shaily said, “Women’s representation is lacking, but students usually don’t talk about it. They have been saying, ‘I will vote for him because I have seen his name a lot’.” “Campaigning has remained largely male-dominated with major parties fielding male candidates for the President and Vice-President posts,” she added.

But online visibility — which also came in the form of movie tickets, dinners and hampers containing make-up kits and chocolates — did not work the same way for everyone. Kirti, a first-year law student at Law Centre II, was waiting to vote in the evening. “We saw that when the building collapsed in Satya Niketan, all parties shared reels and were very active, but the genuineness, since it was online, was questionable,” she said.

At Sri Venkateswara College, third-year Chemistry students Muskan and Lakshya were sceptical about the focus on the building collapse incident. “It has been three years, and whatever issues the parties raise, nothing comes of them. Satya Niketan will be no different,” Muskan said.

Tight security, long queues

In North Campus, security was tightened from 8.30 am, with heavy barricades put up along routes leading to the Arts Faculty to restrict the entry of outsiders.Party supporters were barred from entering the campus, though SUVs and groups of supporters of key NSUI and ABVP candidates were visible in the morning.

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Vrinda Singh, a second-year law student at Campus Law Centre, said candidates were largely focusing on infrastructure concerns rather than student housing. “Student housing wasn’t discussed predominantly here… Candidates were mainly addressing infrastructure-related issues… maybe because the issues affecting us here are different from South Campus,” she said.

At Sri Venkateswara College, long queues had formed by noon, stretching towards the Metro station.

Anmol, an NSUI worker whose friend Neeraj Bawa was seriously injured in the Satya Niketan collapse, said independent candidates had made the contest more closely fought.

“Had it been only NSUI and ABVP, the chances would have been better,” he said, pointing to the possibility of votes moving to independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, who was denied a party ticket.

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Polling day logistics

College authorities said elaborate arrangements were made to manage the voting.

Sri Venkateswara College Principal Prof Vajala Ravi said, “All 215 teaching staff, 150 non-teaching staff and around 50-60 contractual staff, including security personnel, had been deployed for election duty.”

Vice Principal Prof Nandita Narayanasamy said the college, which has 79 students with disabilities, had set up booths on the ground floor for them.

At Ramjas College, 2,578 of 5,973 students had voted in both the college and DUSU elections, Principal Ajay Arora said. “A turnout of around 43% was recorded,” he added.

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Miranda House recorded 32% turnout, with students voting in both DUSU and college elections. The college also set up two ‘Walls of Democracy’ where student organisations and candidates put up posters and banners.

EVMs take centre stage

Around 960 EVMs were deployed this year, with 40 kept in reserve in case of technical glitches, Chief Electoral Officer Prof Raj Kishore Sharma said.

This was the first time EVMs were used in almost all DU colleges, barring a few where technical issues prevented their deployment. Earlier, most colleges used ballot papers for their college-level student union elections. The turnout for DUSU polls this year, at 40.46%, is higher than the last two years — 35.2% in 2024 and 39.36% in 2025. But the figure is lower than 2023 turnout of 42%.

While counting for DUSU polls will take place on Saturday, by late Friday afternoon, the mood had already shifted in some campuses, with celebrations breaking out as college-level results were announced.

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At Bhaskaracharya College, the SFI nominee won the presidential post.

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Sophiya Mathew is a Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She joined the Delhi bureau in 2024, and has specialization in Integrated Multimedia Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai. Professional Background Core Beats: Her reporting is primarily focused on the Environment and Education. Specialization: She has gained recognition for her ground-level reporting on the Yamuna floodplains and the socio-economic challenges faced by those living on its banks. She also focuses on the disparities in Delhi's education system, ranging from elite private schools to government institutions and refugee education. Recent Notable Articles (December 2025) Her recent work has been heavily centered on Delhi's severe winter pollution crisis and the government's regulatory responses: 1. The Air Pollution Crisis "A tale of two cities: Delhi govt schools choke in bad air, private classrooms set up air filters" (Dec 20, 2025): A high-impact feature contrasting the "Clean Air Bubbles" in elite schools with the reality of government school students who are exposed to an equivalent of 17 cigarettes a day due to outdoor exposure. "Delhi sees season's worst air day, second worst December AQI in nearly a decade" (Dec 15, 2025): An analytical report on the meteorological patterns trapping pollutants in the NCR. "Delhi bans non-BS VI vehicles from outside: Why curbing vehicular pollution is key" (Dec 17, 2025): Explaining the science behind targeting specific vehicle vintages to lower particulate matter. 2. Enforcement & Regulations "No fuel at pumps in Delhi without valid PUC certificate from December 18" (Dec 17, 2025): Breaking the news on the environment ministry's strict "No PUC, No Fuel" policy. 3. Education Policy "Law to regulate school fee in Delhi risks becoming procedural, say parents" (Dec 13, 2025): Investigating the loopholes in the new Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025. "Monsoon Session: Private school fee regulation Bill cleared after four-hour debate" (Aug 9, 2025): Covering the legislative passage of the controversial fee hike regulation. Signature Style Sophiya is known for her observational depth. Her reporting often includes vivid details from school corridors, hospital waitlists, or the banks of the Yamuna to illustrate how policy failures affect the city's most vulnerable residents. She is a frequent expert guest on the 3 Things podcast, where she explains the complexities of Delhi’s environmental laws. X (Twitter): @SophiyaMathew1 ... Read More

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