Amid two days left for the keenly fought battle of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) poll, university students expressed concerns over the increasing role of money and muscle power in the elections along with many complaining about inconvenience due to the campus rallies which have been keeping both North and South Campuses buzzing.

Luxury cars, including Range Rover, Thar, SUVs, and other high-end vehicles, formed part of convoys of candidates contesting elections amid hundreds of people from other states being brought in as a show of strength ahead of the elections.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has brought in around 100-150 supporters from various states to bolster its campaign. National Students Union of India (NSUI) national delegate Y Pawan, from Telangana, mentioned that 100 supporters from Telangana had come to support the students' union.

However, even as Wednesday marks the last day of campaigning, students claimed that it is mainly ineffective with many unable to recall the names of any candidate from any student union including ABVP and NSUI.

A student claimed that the rallies cause disruptions in their classes. "Whenever the rallies pass by a college gate, the authorities lock it up, including the faculty gates, to ensure that no one crosses the premises. This causes major inconvenience for us. If the rally goes on for ten minutes, we are stuck and get late for our classes," said Ritika, a student from the Arts Faculty.

Aakansha, another student from the Arts Faculty, shared her indifference towards the elections. "I am not interested in all this college politics. Their campaigning revolves around just wasting paper. No one is even interested in looking at the pamphlets—they just walk over them.”

Many students also stated how there is an increasing role of money and muscle power in the DUSU polls even as candidates use lavish cars for campaigning. “There is no connection with the candidates. All these student unions do is litter the roads and waste tons of money. They just released their manifesto but don’t talk about it—they just focus on showcasing their money and muscle power. That disconnect is the reason I won’t be voting,” said Himanshu, a student from the Department of Library and Information Science.

A Hindu college student Gauri said that these campaigners don’t value private space and create nuisance on campus with wastage of resources and pamphlets with them creating noise pollution. She claimed that she has also seen girls being harassed during the campaigning.

A law student Manthan Tripathi alleged that there is no law and order while the campaigning is ongoing for the polls which will not even benefit students.

The DUSU elections, slated to be held on September 27, have sparked concerns, as many first-year students will have barely spent a month on campus, with their classes beginning only on August 29. Many argue that this limited time leaves them unfamiliar with the university environment and student politics, making them more susceptible to influence by campaigners with some accusing campaigners of exploiting this inexperience to sway votes by offering them with superficial gestures.

"The campaigning has changed over time. It’s all about banners and clashes, with candidates focused more on politics than student issues. The nominees are not chosen based on the work they want to do but on their money and power.

They don’t want to connect with students anymore. Instead, they try to lure first-year students with movie tickets, canteen tokens, and trips," Vimlesh Tripathi, an MA student in Sanskrit, said.