Polls to elect office bearers of the students' unions at Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday went off peacefully with around 40 and 56 per cent turnout respectively.
Delhi University Chief Election Officer Ashok Vohra said the counting of votes will be taken up on Saturday after which the results will be declared.
"The voting went off peacefully with 39.55 per cent of students casting their vote in the morning leg of polls. The elections in the morning from 8.30 am to 12.30 om went off smoothly," he said.
There was a minor glitch in one EVM machine at Khalsa College but it was immediately corrected," he said.
The voting percentage for evening college students, which took place from 3 pm to 7 pm in the second leg, was expected to be declared late in the night.
Twelve candidates, each for the posts of president and vice president; 17 for the post of secretary, and 10 for joint secretary are in the fray for the four major posts of DUSU.
Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) are the main student outfits in fray, while left oriented All India Students Association (AISA) too has fielded some candidates to grab a place in the student's body.
Meanwhile in JNU, an estimated 56 per cent turnout was recorded at the university's student union elections, which is a five per cent drop from last year.
JNU's Chief Election Commissioner Gyan Prakash said the turn out was of 56 per cent, a decline from last year's figure of 61 per cent. The polls were to begin at 9 am but started only after 9.30 am, Gyan Prakash said.
In view of the delay, the election commission officers extended the closing time by half an hour till 6 pm. Polling passed off peacefully as internal security guards kept a tight vigil following the university's tradition of non-involvement of police forces. There are eight candidates fighting for the post of president, five for vice-president, six for general secretary and three for joint secretary in JNUSU.
Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Association (AISA) are the major contenders but National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have also fielded candidates. Merit-cum-Means Scholarship (MCM) was the common agenda for all the contesting students union.
Polling in JNU was conducted with the help of traditional ballot papers and the results are expected to be declared by Monday.
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