NEW DELHI: The RSS-affiliated ABVP won three of the four central panel posts in the high-profile Delhi University Students' Union election, while independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, who was denied an NSUI ticket, won the vice-president's post.
The Congress-backed NSUI failed to win any of the four central panel posts, with the ABVP securing the president, secretary and joint secretary positions.
In the presidential race, ABVP's Yash Dabas polled 24,576 votes, defeating NSUI's Vijai Shankar Meena by a margin of 2,053 votes.
"It is a victory of harmony, patriotism, and the collective strength of the Sangh. Students from institutions ranging from PU to DU have worked to ensure our victory. NSUI has been completely wiped out from the campus; NSUI lost 4-0," Dabas said following his victory.
"Our primary concern will be ensuring that a safety audit is conducted for every PG and hostel. We all witnessed the accident that occurred in Satya Niketan; we do not want such an incident to happen to anyone in the future, and that will be our first priority—conducting safety audits for every college, hostel, and PG. The Vidyarthi Parishad won 3-1 last time and has won 3-1 this time as well; next time, we will win 4-0," he added.
Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen won the vice-president's post with 30,615 votes after being denied an NSUI ticket.
For the joint secretary's post, the ABVP candidate secured 16,615 votes, while the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha candidate polled 15,778 votes.
In the secretary's race, the ABVP candidate polled 21,650 votes, while the NSUI candidate secured 14,869 votes.
Last year, the ABVP had won the posts of president, secretary and joint secretary, while the NSUI had secured the vice-president's post.
The results mark a reversal from the earlier counting trends, when NSUI candidate Vijay Meena had been leading the presidential race after the 10th round of counting.
Meena had said in a social media post put out a night before polling that the party would begin leading from the 10th round of counting.
The ABVP's victory also comes after its candidates had led in the secretary and joint secretary races during counting. In the secretary race, the ABVP had received 9,953 votes against 7,712 for the NSUI candidate.
For the joint secretary post, the ABVP had obtained 5,386 votes, while the NSUI candidate had received 5,339 votes.
The results will determine the composition of the DUSU central panel for the 2026-27 academic session, in a contest that has drawn keen interest as the RSS-affiliated ABVP, Congress-backed NSUI and the Left alliance of AISA-SFI vie for dominance in one of the country's most high-profile student union elections.
Last year, the ABVP won the posts of president, secretary and joint secretary, while NSUI secured the vice-president's post.
The contest this year has been shaped not just by campus issues such as student housing and infrastructure, but also by aggressive social media outreach, caste-based mobilisation and extensive campaigning on the ground.
With counting still underway under tight security, ABVP leaders have expressed confidence of a clean sweep. Yash Dabas reiterated the party’s claim of a “4-0 victory”, even as the vice-president’s race remains outside its grasp for now.
The final outcome is expected to hinge on the remaining rounds, with trends still fluid across posts.
(With inputs from PTI)