High NOTA votes mark DUSU polls despite clear wins for ABVP candidates

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) The Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) polls 2025-26 saw a significant number of students opting for the NOTA (None of the Above) option, with more than 3,000 to 7,000 votes polled in the category against each post, even as the contests concluded peacefully on Friday.

According to the final tally, ABVP's Aryan Maan was elected president with 28,841 votes, but 3,175 students opted for NOTA in the presidential race, which had nine candidates.

NSUI's Rahul Jhansla won the vice-president's post with 29,339 votes, yet NOTA secured a total of 5,820 votes -- a figure larger than the support for one of the candidates.

The contest for the secretary's post too saw a notable rejection, as 7,365 students pressed NOTA, compared to the 9,535 votes secured by one of the candidates in the fray.

Similarly, for the joint secretary's post, NOTA received 7,314 votes, higher than the tally of three contestants.

Chief Election Officer Professor Raj Kishore Sharma said nine candidates contested for president, three for vice-president, four for secretary and five for joint secretary.

A 39.45 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the polling held on Thursday. This year's turnout saw a small increase over last year's turnout of 35 per cent. PTI MHS RC