ABVP dedicates its win to Arun Jaitley

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Friday dedicated its win in the Delhi University Students' Union polls to former Union minister Arun Jaitley, who was the president of union in 1970s.

Jaitley died at the AIIMS here on August 24 after battling multiple health issues for the last several months. He was 66.

The RSS-affiliated ABVP on Friday won three posts, including that of the president, in the DUSU polls, while the Congress-backed NSUI bagged the secretary's post.

"We dedicate this win to Arun Jaitley ji. He is not with us, but we have learnt many things from him," Akshit Dahiya, the winner of president post in DUSU elections, said.

Dahiya of the RSS-backed ABVP defeated National Students Union of India's Chetna Tyagi by a margin of over 19,000 votes, the highest ever, the student outfit claimed.

"Our presidential candidate has won by a margin of over 19,000 votes, the highest ever margin in recent times. We have won on three posts. We intend to start 'Mission Sahasi 2.0' to empower women," Monika Chaudhary, national media convenor of ABVP, said.

The voter turnout in DUSU polls on Thursday was recorded at 39.90 per cent, over four percentage points down over the last year.

Last year, the voter turnout was 44.46 per cent.

"Sports will be one of our main agendas. I want the students of Delhi University to participate in 2024 olympics and also win medals for our country," Dahiya said.

The polling for four positions of the DUSU ended amid allegations of EVM malfunctioning. Sixteen candidates, including four women, were in the fray and 52 polling centres were set up.

Shivangi Kharwal, who won the post of joint secretary by a margin of 2,914 votes, said the ABVP will focus on the safety of women students.

"We have raised the issue of women safety. There should be CCTV cameras inside and outside colleges. PCR has to be deployed outside colleges and hostels," Kharwal said.