Monsoon 2026 Elections: Candidates announced, affidavits released

On Friday, September 11th, the Ashoka University Election Commission (AUEC) released the final list of candidates for the Monsoon 2026 Election Cycle. Three candidates are standing for the position of President, all from the UG’28 cohort: Sudyotman Sudershan (Independent), Kriti Chibber (Horizon) and Partho Protim Roy (United Students’ Front). Though the original list had five candidates, two have since withdrawn from the Presidential race. Standing for General Secretary are Independent candidates Chaitanya Gupta (UG’29) and Shatakshi Shelly (UG’ 28). 

The fourth-year council failed to meet quorum over the summer, leaving all four seats vacant. These are being contested by Sulagna Moitra, Vaanadhi Dhandapani, Roshni Sudhir Patra, Aryan Chaudhary, and Sneha Lohia. Moitra and Lohia are contesting from the USF, while Dhandapani, Patra, and Chaudhary are contesting under the Horizon banner. 

Only one seat remains vacant on the third-year council following the summer elections. Contesting this seat are Trisha Iyer (USF) and Kriti Chibber (Horizon). 

The list features a whopping 16 candidates contesting the first-year undergraduate council to represent the UG’30 batch. Independent candidates are Zara Javed, Gurjas Singh Chadha, Harsh Ravi Nagdev, Hargun Singh, S.S. Rithu, Siddhi Shiva Prakash, Akshay Tulpule, Pranav Chandrashekar, Kavyaa Turakhia, Manya Varma, Nilesh Mandhyan, and Manicka Kumar. Contesting from USF are Muskan and Shreevats Shukla. The list also features Sohraab Singh and Lakshmi Sarayu Adepu,  contesting under the newest collective on campus, United Ashoka (UA). 

Three candidates are from the Young India Fellows (YIF) 2026-27 cohort seat:  Ahmad Yasin, Shambhavi Gupta, and Abhishek Sharma. Aan Rajyavardhan Rakshit is the sole nominee for the Late Graduate cohort seat. 

Candidates’ affidavits are in a Google Drive folder linked here. All candidates will participate in a series of debates conducted by the Edict. The goal of the debates is to examine the candidates on their platforms, vision, and goals, and to offer the student body an opportunity to question their candidates.