3 NSUI poll candidates move Delhi HC challenging DUSU election results

The plea alleged that EVMs were tampered with and questioned how “privately procured” EVMs could have been used in the polls held on September 12.

Three candidates of the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) moved the Delhi High Court Monday challenging the elections to the student body of the Delhi University on the grounds that voting machines were allegedly tampered with.

New Delhi, India - Sept. 6, 2017: The NSUI student campaign for the DUSU Election 2017 at Delhi University,North Campus in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, September 6, 2017. (Photo by Sushil Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The petition was mentioned before a bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla which allowed it to be listed for hearing on Monday.

The plea sought that electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls be secured to ensure they do not go missing. It also alleged that data from seven EVMs had gone missing.

The plea alleged that EVMs were tampered with and questioned how “privately procured” EVMs could have been used in the polls held on September 12.

The office of the chief electoral officer in Delhi on Thursday last said that EVMs used in the DUSU election were not issued by the Election Commission and seem to have been procured privately.

The ABVP, student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, on September 13 bagged three posts including that of the president in the student union elections.

The NSUI won only one seat, while the AAP’s student wing CYSS, which fought the elections in alliance with Left-backed AISA, failed to open its account.

Polling took place at 52 centres in the colleges and there were as many as 23 candidates in the fray.