Making a comeback on the presidential post after seven years, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Congress-backed student body, secured the President and Joint Secretary positions in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections on Monday.
In a closely contested race, NSUI's Rounak Khatri, a 23-year-old law student, emerged victorious in the presidential race, defeating the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Rishabh Chaudhary by over 1,300 votes. Khatri secured 20,207 votes, while Chaudhary, who is pursuing his studies at the Department of Buddhist Studies currently, received 18,864 votes.
Khatri is popularly known on campus as "Matkaman" for his unique campaigning style as he had protested against poor water quality in University, for symbolic protest he had installed matkas in campus. The last NSUI president was Rocky Tuseed, who won in 2017.
The winning candidate from NSUI has gained recognition for his advocacy of student rights and aims to bring transparency and fairness to DUSU. His legal expertise and dynamic leadership have made him a prominent figure in the university.
In what can be described as a power split, both NSUI and ABVP secured two posts each. ABVP’s Bhanu Pratap Singh won the Vice President post with 24,166 votes, defeating NSUI’s Yash Nandal, who garnered 15,404 votes.
A graduate in Psychology (Honors) from Sri Aurobindo College is originally from Faridabad in Haryana, Singh has organized various competitions aimed at the holistic development of students and has served as the Secretary of his college’s student union. He is currently pursuing a law degree at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.
ABVP’s Mitravinda Karanwal, contesting for the Secretary post, won with 16,703 votes, overcoming NSUI’s Namrata Jeph Meena, who had initially led in early trends. A third-year History (Honors) student from Lakshmibai College, Karnwal is actively involved in women's issues and social service. She previously served as the Secretary of her college’s student union and has worked under ABVP's Ritumati campaign to raise awareness about women's health and safety at the university.
NSUI also made strides by securing the Joint Secretary position with 21,975 votes, with Lokesh Choudhary, a student of Buddhist Studies from Hisar, defeating ABVP’s Aman Kapasia, a national-level archer, who secured 15,249 votes. Choudhary’s victory marks the first time NSUI has held the Joint Secretary position since 2016.
Lokesh, a member of the Gurjar community, aims to improve campus life for all students and address the concerns of marginalized communities.
The last time the power was split evenly between NSUI and ABVP was in 2017, when NSUI held the President and Vice President posts, while ABVP controlled the Secretary and Joint Secretary positions.
The DUSU election results, which were initially scheduled to be announced on September 28, were delayed by nearly two months due to a Delhi High Court order. The court had stalled the declaration of results until the defacement caused during the election campaign was cleaned up.
Following the results, celebrations erupted as NSUI supporters, mostly from Congress's student wing, gathered in large numbers, chanting slogans and cheering for their leaders. This victory marks a significant revival of the Congress party's presence in the influential student body after nearly a decade of dominance by ABVP.
The DUSU, the representative body for students from Delhi University’s member colleges, faculties, and teaching departments, will serve a term from August 16 of each year to August 15 of the following year. The election results signal a shift in the dynamics of the student union, with both NSUI and ABVP securing strong footholds.
