NEW DELHI: Last-minute drama over withdrawals, altercation between candidates requiring police intervention, littering of campus roads with lakhs of pamphlets and bursting of crackers to kickstart campaign at the foot of Vivekananda Statue; it was the whole shebang. Welcome to Delhi University Students’ Union election .

The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended at noon on Friday. It was a day that witnessed the rift within National Students’ Union of India come out in the open. After an altercation among NSUI candidates in front of the DUSU election office in North Campus, the group’s office was vandalized by members. Furniture and window panes were broken though national president, NSUI, Roji John managed to escape unhurt.

As Amit Choudhary refused to withdraw his nomination, there are now two NSUI members running for secretary. Giving the ticket for president to Pradeep Vijayaran hasn’t gone down well with some NSUI members. Supporters of Vijayaran and Amit Shehrawat, who is running for secretary, were seen clashing minutes before the end of withdrawal time. Police had to intervene to restore calm.

Even though there is a ban on use of printed material, as soon as the deadline for withdrawals came to an end, lakhs of pamphlets were thrown in the air. Crackers were burst in celebration as names of candidates were announced.

Announcement of the final list of candidates has traditionally been a time for a show of strength and ABVP was a visibly confident lot with a large number of its supporters turning up. CYSS’s show was no match to it, casting doubt on its 45% vote share claim.

