Priyanka Chopra is poster girl in DU student union elections

Posters carrying the photo of actor Priyanka Chopra have come up in and around Delhi University, where student union elections will be held on September 9.

Posters carrying the photo of actor Priyanka Chopra have come up in and around Delhi University, where student union elections will be held on September 9.

Posters carrying the photo of actor Priyanka Chopra have come up in and around Delhi University, where student union elections will be held on September 9. (Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times)

Priyanka Chhawri, the vice-presidential candidate of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), shares the name with the actor.

In the 2014 elections, similar posters carrying the picture of actor Nauheed Cyrusi had come up on campus.

The posters say, ‘All the best, Priyanka 4 Emmys’. Priyanka Chhawri’s ballot number for the DUSU election scheduled for September 9 is ‘4’.

ABVP national media convener Saket Bahuguna said that they had not put up the hoarding.

“The hoarding has to be read properly as it wishes all the best to Priyanka Chopra. The ‘4’ used in the hoarding in an SMS language, which means ‘for’. It must be one of the actor’s fan who has taken this medium to send her best wishes as she will be going for the 68th Emmy’s Award,” said Bahuguna.

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Asked why the posters were mostly around DU and different colleges, he called it a “coincidence”.

In 2014, Cyrusi’s picture on posters of the ABVP secretary candidate had won him the elections.

The students said they had voted for the candidate thinking that she was Cyrusi.

Using such printed posters is against the university’s rule which allows only handmade posters. On Monday, the DU election office had sent notices to candidates for violating the rule and littering the campus.

“If such posters and hoardings have been put, then it violates the code of conduct of the election. We will take action against those doing this,” said DS Rawat, DU chief election officer (CEC).