From denied NSUI ticket to DUSU win: Deepanshu Shokeen’s election journey

Deepanshu Shokeen, who was elected Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) vice-president on Saturday, secured the post as an independent candidate after his bid for an NSUI ticket ended in a dispute over the organisation’s candidate selection.

The student leader, whose father is a Delhi Transport Corporation bus conductor and mother an Anganwadi teacher, comes from Peeragarhi village in west Delhi. He is pursuing a master’s degree in Buddhist Studies after completing his graduation from Bhagat Singh College.

Shokeen won the vice-president’s post with 30,615 votes, defeating his closest rival, ABVP’s Ishu Maurya, by 13,705 votes.

Student issues formed the centre of his campaign. Shokeen said his own experiences with hostel facilities, university infrastructure and institutional policies influenced his decision to enter student politics.

During the campaign, he also walked barefoot and pledged not to wear shoes until justice was delivered to students affected by the Satya Niketan PG building collapse. The September 6 incident claimed seven lives, including five Delhi University students.

His decision to contest independently followed a disagreement with the Congress-backed NSUI. According to his father Rakesh Shokeen, the student leader was initially nominated for an NSUI ticket but was subsequently asked to withdraw, after which he decided to contest independently.

Shokeen later criticised what he described as organisational shortcomings within NSUI and questioned its candidate-selection process. An NSUI functionary also acknowledged that his independent candidature had become a challenge to the organisation’s ticket distribution process.

After his victory, Shokeen thanked DU students in a post on X, saying the result represented students who wanted campus issues to be raised independently of student organisations.

He has also said that his priorities would include raising concerns over university infrastructure, hostel facilities and other student-related issues. Before the election, he had indicated that he would take up students’ grievances with the university administration immediately after taking office.

with inputs from PTI