Delhi University goes to polls today

The university — which witnessed some brawls, a lot of election sops being doled out and frenzied campaigning by the candidates — will see 1.2 lakh students voting during the polls in two phases on Friday.

New Delhi: It is poll time at Delhi University. The university - which witnessed some brawls, a lot of election sops being doled out and frenzied campaigning by the candidates - will see 1.2 lakh students voting during the polls in two phases on Friday.

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However, the election has already been mired in controversy with ABVP's presidential candidate, Aman Awana, reportedly having a criminal background.

An FIR was filed against him in 2011 for attempt to murder. A chargesheet was later filed against him and Awana is currently out on bail.

"A case was registered against him in August 2011 for beating up a student of Dayal Singh College. Awana's friend, who was the first to be arrested in the case, has confessed to his involvement in the brawl. Awana's car was also seized in the case," said a senior police official.
However, even as Awana rubbished the claims, DU's election office chose to remain silent as to why they were permitting a candidate with a criminal record to contest the polls.

"We will take cognizance if anyone comes up to us to report the matter. Till then, we can't take action against him or cancel his candidature," said Ashok Vohra, chief election officer of DU.

Voting will take place in 50 colleges from 8am to12pm for day colleges and from 4pm to 7pm for evening colleges.

"We have installed around 900 electronic voting machines (EVM) in 50 colleges. We have also assigned special mechanics who will fix any technical glitch, if any, within 10 minutes," said Vohra.