DUTA polls record 85% voting, counting underway

New Delhi: Nearly 85 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) elections on Wednesday, for which voting ended at 5 p.m. while the counting started at 6:30 p.m.

The main contenders in the elections are the National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF) and the Democratic United Teachers' Alliance.

The BJP-backed NDTF has fielded A.K. Bhagi, Professor of Chemistry at Dyal Singh College, as its presidential candidate while Aditya Narayan Mishra of Aurobindo College is Democratic United Teachers Alliance's candidate for the president post.

Apart from the president, 15 members of executive panel will also be elected through the DUTA elections.

About 9,600 permanent, temporary and adhoc teachers of 79 colleges of Delhi University were eligible to vote in the election. According to Professor Hansraj Suman of Delhi University, out of these, 8187, that is, about 85 per cent teachers exercised their franchise. Hansraj Suman said that the entire election process was peaceful and harmonious.

Several opposition teachers' organisations forged Democratic United Teachers Alliance to jointly contest the DUTA elections.

Mishra is associated with the teachers wing of the Aam Aadmi Party, and has the support of Congress, Left and other opposition teachers' organisations. Whereas current DUTA president Bhagi is contesting for his re-election.

Election Officer, Sunil Chaudhary said that only two candidates are in the fray for the post of president while 21 teachers are testing their lucks for the 15-member executive panel.

According to Delhi University, a total of 32 polling stations were set up for the DUTA elections.

The NDTF has fielded five candidates for the executive panel, which includes Kamlesh Kumar Raghuvanshi, Chaman Singh, Aditi Narayani Paswan, Akanksha Khurana and Amit Singh.