Counting resumes after EVM glitch causes uproar among unions

Counting for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls resumed Thursday hours after it was suspended due to "fault in EVMs" leading to a uproar among the contending outfits.

Following a glitch in the EVMs, the Congress-affiliated NSUI demanded fresh polling, while the RSS's student wing the ABVP demanded resumption of counting.

Later, all candidates came to an agreement on resumption of counting.

Before the counting was stopped, in the initial trends, Congress-backed NSUI was leading for the president post, while the ABVP was leading for the vice president's post.

Initially, the counting was stopped for an hour following allegations of faulty EVMs. However, after students raised objections, the election officials decided to suspend the counting.

 

"After elaborate discussions, it was decided that the counting will be resumed today. All candidates have reached an agreement on this," an election officer for DUSU polls said.

"We had proposed rectification of the faulty EVMs and resumption of the counting but the students were not ready for it. It was decided to suspend counting in the afternoon," he said.

The supporters of both the groups shouted slogans against the Delhi University (DU) administration and created a ruckus inside the counting centre.

"The polls are being held at the behest of the central government. The EVMs were tampered with. We want fresh elections," Rocky Tuseed of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) said.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Shakti Singh said, "Only one EVM was faulty and it can be repaired. We want the counting to be resumed. Since we were leading on all the seats, the other parties are demanding fresh elections."

DUSU is the representative body of the Delhi University students from most colleges and faculties. Apart from DUSU, which is an umbrella council, each college has its own students' union to which separate elections are held.

While the battle for DUSU has mainly been the contest between the NSUI and ABVP for years, the Left-affiliated AISA and Aam Aadmi Party's CYSS have entered into an alliance and are also vying for the central panel posts this time.

Amid heavy police presence and some last-minute wooing of voters, DUSU polls were held yesterday with a voter turnout of 44.46 per cent.

Polling took place at 52 centres in the colleges. There are as many as 23 candidates in the fray.