DU and JNU student polls end, DU result Saturday

Polling to elect office-bearers of the students' unions at Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) passed off peacefully here Friday.

Counting of votes for Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections will begin Saturday and the result will be declared the same day.

Meanwhile, counting in JNU began Friday but the result will be declared only on Monday.

Elections at both DU and JNU were held amid tight security and there were no reports of violence.

At Delhi University, voting began at 8.30 a.m. and continued till 12.30 p.m. for day class students while those attending evening classes exercised their franchise from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., officials said.

"The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has promised that as soon as their candidates come to power, they will take initiative to abolish the FYUP (four-year undergraduate programme), a matter of concern for us," said Sameer, a first year student of Ram Lal Anand College, who had come to vote.

The contest in DUSU is between the NSUI, backed by the Congress, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. There are also a few candidates fielded by the All India Students Association (AISA), a radical Left group.

In JNU, the main agenda for almost all candidates was the shortage of hostels and infrastrucutre on the campus.

The Students Federation of India, Democratic Students Front and AISA are battling for honours in the JNU elections but the NSUI and ABVP have also fielded candidates.