DUSU Elections Campaigning 2.0: Candidates fuel creativity, go out-of-the-box at Delhi University's North Campus

With DUSU 2025 facing curbs on posters, rallies & loudspeakers, student groups are getting inventive, lighting up North Campus with offbeat campaigns.

Adversity isn’t always a bad thing as sometimes it sparks the best ideas. With DUSU 2025 elections being held under strict new rules after a Delhi High Court directive banned posters, car rallies and loudspeakers are a thing of the past. Putting aside vandalism on campus, student political parties have now taken a creative route and the North Campus is buzzing with quirky campaign tricks.

From rickshawallas sporting campaign tees to chai tapris shaded under jumbo umbrellas emblazoned with candidate names, the DUSU 2025 election drive has gone all out on creativity. (Photos: Manoj Verma/HT)

tea stall near the Faculty of Law now sits under a giant umbrella emblazoned with a candidate’s name.

Take a walk through the campus lanes and you’ll spot the ever-popular rickshawallas flaunting tees that rep names of campaigning student leaders with their ballot numbers printed on it. Even the chai tapris are now shaded under the giant umbrellas that have names of candidates. Among this popular tribe on campus is Pankaj Singh, who runs a tea stall near Faculty of Law, which is of late sporting an umbrella with a candidate’s name and ballot number. “Some students told me if I agree to use it, it will help promote their student leader. Humein dhoop aur baarish se bachne ke liye chattri mil gayi, toh humne bhi mana nahi kiya,” shares Singh.

A rikshaw-puller wearing a t-shirt with the name of one of the candidates.

But the best (read cutest) is the way how humans dressed up as animation characters like Mickey Mouse, Duck and Motu Patlu are handing out pamphlets outside various colleges. “When the new rules came out, our plans did get shaken up a bit,” says Rachin Singh, a student of Kirori Mal College, who is part of one of this year’s candidate’s campaigning team. “We brainstormed and thought of ideas that are effective, fun and grab attention as after all, everyone loves a creative campaign. The mascots handing out our flyers is really working well for us!”

At North Campus, a person dressed as Mickey Mouse grabs attention while handing out flyers.

Another campaigner Riya Sulekh, a student of Ramjas College, shares, “The chaiwalas, rikshawallas, and shop keepers have all been an indirect part of our campus for years. They are familiar with a lot of us students already, so we thought why not bring them in and involve them directly to give us a chance to add a human touch to our approach.”

Well, a cool way indeed! “Mai saalon se rickshaw chala raha hun campus mein. Har saal dekhta hun yahan elections time par bahut raunak hoti hai, ” shares Chaand Singh, a rickshaw puller, adding, “Khush hun ki ab main bhi ek tarah se isska hissa ban gaya. Those who ride my rickshaw even ask me which party I am actually supporting (smiled)!”

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