DUSU 2026 Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

Hansraj College has announced attendance incentives and appreciation certificates for students who vote in the 2026-27 Students’ Union elections, joining a growing list of DU colleges using such measures to boost turnout.

Hansraj College has announced a set of incentives to encourage student participation in its Students’ Union Election, scheduled for 18 September 2026 (Friday). In an official notice dated 15 September 2026, Election Officer Dr. Rachna Sharma stated that the college will award 8 bonus attendance to all students who cast their vote, along with appreciation certificates for participating voters. The college has also set up a “Selfie Point” for students to commemorate their vote after casting it.

The notice, addressed to the student body, calls on students to “exercise their right to vote and contribute to the democratic process of the college.”

Hansraj isn’t alone in using attendance and recognition-based incentives to drive election turnout. Similar measures have surfaced at other Delhi University colleges in past years, though the scale has varied, and voter turnout for college-level union elections has historically been inconsistent across campuses, often prompting administrations to experiment with such incentives.

At Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, students received 5 days of bonus attendance for voting last year, and a dedicated “Pink Booth” was set up to ensure the security and convenience of all female voters. Miranda House’s incentive was comparatively modest, with attendance benefits limited to the day of voting itself. At Motilal Nehru College, the practice was less formalised—some teachers reportedly granted attendance for three classes to students who voted, rather than it being a college-wide policy.

With Hansraj’s 8-day offer among the more generous incentives seen so far this election season, the move is likely to renew conversations around whether such measures are necessary to ensure democratic participation on campus, or whether they risk reducing voting to a transactional exercise.

Aamna Rehman

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Image Source: The Hindu

Image Caption: Students voting at DUSU Election Polling Booth at Delhi University

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ABVP and NSUI have launched rival outreach campaigns ahead of Delhi University Student Union’s September 17 elections, aimed at collecting student suggestions to shape their poll manifestos.

With the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections scheduled for September 17, student organisations have intensified campus outreach, launching manifesto campaigns on Monday, built around student participation.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has rolled out its “My DU, My Manifesto” campaign, inviting students across the University of Delhi to share their concerns, expectations and suggestions, which the organisation said will be incorporated into its manifesto for the polls. Under the initiative, students can share their views through a QR code as well as with ABVP volunteers conducting the campaign across various DU colleges.

ABVP Delhi State Secretary Sarthak Sharma, in conversation with The Hans, said the campaign was aimed at moving beyond closed-door manifesto drafting:

“Our manifesto should not be a document decided by a select few. Through ‘My DU, My Manifesto’, we seek to reach out to every student and understand what they consider to be the most pressing issue at the University of Delhi and what changes they wish to see in their university.”

The organisation said it would study the suggestions received from students and seek to translate them into practical and student-centric policy proposals.

Separately, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) pushed forward its own initiative, “My Campus, My Manifesto,” claiming to have collected close to 6,000 suggestions from students within a week. NSUI said its teams have been visiting colleges across DU, gathering feedback through suggestion boxes and face-to-face interactions, in an effort to ground its manifesto in grassroots concerns rather than a top-down approach.

NSUI media in-charge Ravi Pandey told The New Indian Express that the volume of responses reflected student demand to be heard.

“Nearly 6,000 suggestions in just one week show that students want their voices to be heard,” he said, adding, “We will analyse every suggestion and ensure that the manifesto reflects the real concerns and aspirations of students. The manifesto will not be written for students, but by students.”

The campaign comes ahead of the DUSU elections, which are expected to see participation from various student organisations across the university, with both ABVP and NSUI positioning their manifestos as student-driven exercises ahead of the September 17 polls.

Image Source: DU Beat

Image Caption: Delhi University’s Wall of Democracy

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Sheetal Mishra
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