New Delhi, Aug. 30 -- The walls of Delhi University may be quieter this election season, but the campaign is far from subdued. With the university enforcing strict rules against defacement, the DUSU 2026 contest is increasingly playing out on phone screens, where reels, memes, music and carefully packaged political messages are competing for the attention of students.
The Delhi University Students' Union election is scheduled for September 18, with counting on September 19. As the formal electoral process approaches, student organisations are turning social media into their new campaign ground - replacing posters and graffiti with Instagram reels, short videos and digital outreach.
The campaign has already acquired the familiar DUSU flavour: large car convoys making their way towards campuses, candidates posing for reels against Punjabi and Haryanvi tracks, and carefully edited videos designed to project both popularity and personality. For candidates chasing the first-time voter, however, the pitch is increasingly about college-specific concerns, packaged through a mix of serious questions, humour and trend-driven content.
The shift is partly driven by the university's stringent defacement guidelines. The election notification specifically places the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, and relevant Delhi High Court and NGT directions within the framework governing the polls.
Yet moving online has not taken the politics out of the campaign. If anything, it has made the contest more immediate and more performative.
The traditional ABVP-NSUI face-off remains central to the DUSU battle, while Left organisations such as AISA and SFI are seeking to expand their presence. The Aam Aadmi Party's student wing, Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), is also attempting to carve out space, including by highlighting its role in recent student mobilisation and the Jantar Mantar movement. The official process begins with September 10, the last date for filing nominations, along with a Rs 500 demand draft and affidavits. Scrutiny and publication of nominated candidates will follow the same day, while withdrawals close on September 11.
Voting will take place in two shifts - 8.30 am to 1 pm for day classes and 3 pm to 7.30 pm for evening classes.
This year, the campaign may have fewer walls to write on. But there are millions of screens to reach.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.