he 2026 Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) election results have produced an interesting contrast in Delhi's student politics. In the months leading up to the polls, students were visible at protests over issues ranging from the Satya Niketan building collapse to wider concerns around student safety, accommodation and education.
DUSU Elections 2026
Students also protested in the form of a Gen Z led protest in Jantar Mantar, which became a topic of discussion for the political scene in the capital city of young voters.
However, when the students cast their vote, they chose the RSS supported Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which swept three out of four key central DUSU seats.
When Delhi University students voted, the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three of the four central panel posts.
ABVP's Yash Dabas won the president's post, Riya Chhawdi became secretary and Lakshya Raj Singh won the joint secretary position. The fourth post, vice-president, went to independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, a former NSUI member who contested after not receiving the Congress-backed students' body's ticket.
t was found that student activism does not necessarily equate to voting for the same cause in the elections. The vice-president post was won by independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, receiving 30,615 votes.
From Street Protests To The DUSU Ballot
The 2026 DUSU elections were conducted against the background of many problems facing the students in Delhi.
The tragic case of the building collapse of the Satya Niketan PG where seven people died, out of which five were students, raised concerns about student housing and safety.
It became one of the issues discussed during the DUSU campaign as student organisations made recommendations on housing, safety audits of private homes, and hostels. Even the ABVP campaign involved the question of safety and housing, making recommendations for safety audits of hostels and paying guest accommodation.
The overall political environment of the student community was marked by the Gen Z protest at the Jantar Mantar. The Satya Niketan tragedy and the protest helped in creating a politically active student environment, but the results of the DUSU poll showed that protesting is not the same as supporting one student organisation over another.
ABVP Wins 3 Of 4 Central Posts
ABVP's Yash Dabas won the DUSU president's post with 24,576 votes, defeating NSUI's Vijai Shankar Meena, who received 22,523 votes. The victory margin was 2,053 votes.
ABVP also won the secretary and joint secretary posts. Riya Chhawdi secured the secretary position with 21,650 votes, while Lakshya Raj Singh won the joint secretary post with 16,615 votes.
This means ABVP has once again secured three of the four central panel positions.
The organisation had also won three central posts in the previous DUSU election, making the 2026 result a continuation of its electoral presence at Delhi University.
Deepanshu Shokeen's Victory Adds A Different Dimension
This election for the vice-president's position was quite different.
An independent candidate, Deepanshu Shokeen, managed to win with 30,615 votes, the highest vote count amongst the four winners on the central panel. Ishu Maurya from the ABVP got 16,910 votes, while the candidate from the NSUI, Vir Chatrath, secured only 4,313 votes. Shokeen initially desired to contest for the NSUI but ended up contesting as an independent candidate. The campaign he was running focused a lot on the issues of students.
Thus, his victory gives us another piece of this election story.
Election Results
- President: Won by ABVP.
- Secretary: Won by ABVP.
- Joint Secretary: Won by ABVP.
- Vice-President: Secured by an independent candidate, Deepanshu Shokeen.
- NSUI Performance: The Congress-backed National Students' Union of India failed to win any central panel positions.
Why The Protest Mood Did Not Produce An NSUI Win
The results do not by themselves establish why individual students voted the way they did. However, the numbers show that the issues raised during protests did not result in NSUI winning any of the four central posts.
NSUI's presidential candidate lost to Dabas by just over 2,000 votes, while the party's candidates were also defeated in the other contests. The Congress-backed student organisation ended the election without a central-panel victory. At the same time, student concerns raised during the campaign did not disappear with the election.
DUSU president-elect Yash Dabas said hostel accommodation and safety audits of colleges, hostels and PGs would be among his priorities, specifically referring to the Satya Niketan tragedy.
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