"The turnout of students was good enough despite the weather. There was a great rush in the evening. Colleges like Hindu, Kirori Mal, Ramjas and the Faculty of Law also had a huge turnout. Polling at Hans Raj, Rajdhani and Shivaji was the most disciplined," said chief election officer I Usha Rao. No technical glitches were reported in the electronic voting machines from any of the 51 polling centres. The simultaneous election for college students' unions also raised the enthusiasm. The result of DUSU election will be declared on Saturday.
Voters came in as early as 8am. Many looked for other than popular options as they reached the EVMs. "Though the rain was bad, I made it to the college to vote. I voted for AISA because I wanted a change from ABVP," said Owais, a second-year student at Hans Raj College. Another final-year student from the college, Kshitij, added, "I voted for AISA because of the work they have done in JNU. I hope they do equally well if elected to power in DU."
Many first-year students were simply too excited to debut as voters. "This is the first time that I am voting and I honestly believe that it's not just enough to want change. It's my duty to come out and vote. Even this rain could not stop me," said Rahul Kumar, a student of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College. Ruby Gautam, another first-year student in the college, said, "DUSU election was treated as a holiday but it's different now. Anna Hazare made us realize the power of an individual."
College officials were also surprised at the spirit of the students. "We had a much better turnout this year than the last time. We had wrongly assumed that only the hostellers would come to vote. But more than 40% students turned up to vote in our college. I think it's one of the latent effects of Anna Hazare's protests with the youth becoming more aware of their rights, prerogatives and duties," said Vinay Kumar Srivastava, principal, Hindu College.