The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three of the four central posts in the 2026 Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, with Yash Dabas elected president, Riya Chhawdi winning secretary and Lakshya Raj Singh securing joint secretary.
Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen won the vice-president’s post, while the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) failed to secure any of the four central positions. The results were declared on September 19 after polling on September 18 across Delhi University.
The election recorded a 40.46% voter turnout among more than 1.51 lakh eligible students. In the presidential contest, Dabas defeated NSUI’s Vijay Shankar Meena by 2,053 votes, polling 24,576 votes.
ABVP Takes Three Posts
Dabas emerged victorious in the closely watched presidential contest, defeating Meena by 2,053 votes. According to the final results reported by PTI, Dabas secured 24,576 votes. ABVP’s Riya Chhawdi won the secretary’s post, while Lakshya Raj Singh was elected joint secretary. Shokeen, who contested independently for vice-president after not receiving an NSUI ticket, secured the fourth central post. His victory means that the DUSU panel will not be entirely controlled by a single student organisation.
Shokeen responded to his victory on social media, saying he was “speechless” after his strong performance during counting. In another post after the result, he thanked Delhi University students and said that contesting independently was not easy, adding that the result represented students who wanted campus issues to remain at the centre of student politics.
The result follows a campaign in which student organisations focused on concerns including campus infrastructure, hostel availability, student welfare, examination processes and safety. The ABVP had entered the election expressing confidence in winning all four central positions. Before polling, the organisation said its candidates had interacted with students across the university and discussed issues affecting them.
Election Sees Moderate Turnout
The DUSU elections were held across 52 polling centres on September 18, with a voter turnout of 40.46%. More than 1.51 lakh students were eligible to vote. Counting began the following morning at the University Sports Stadium’s Multipurpose Hall in North Campus amid heightened security, with police and paramilitary personnel deployed around counting centres.
The contest was particularly significant against the backdrop of recent student mobilisation around alleged examination irregularities, student housing and campus safety. The presidential contest featured Dabas from ABVP, Meena from NSUI and Ananya Raturi from the AISA-SFI alliance. The election also saw independent candidates play a visible role, with Shokeen eventually breaking through the traditional ABVP-NSUI contest to win the vice-presidential position.
This year’s campaign also reflected longstanding debates around representation in DUSU politics. NSUI had fielded Meena, an Adivasi student from Rajasthan, for president, while ABVP’s presidential candidate Dabas was a Jat candidate from Delhi. Other candidates represented different caste, regional and social backgrounds, highlighting the wider diversity within the university’s student electorate.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
DUSU elections are ultimately about student representation, and the results carry significance beyond which organisation secured which post. The concerns raised during the campaign — affordable accommodation, campus safety, infrastructure, examination transparency and student welfare — affect students across political and ideological lines.
With three posts going to ABVP and one to an independent candidate, the new DUSU leadership has an opportunity to focus on these everyday concerns while maintaining space for disagreement and dialogue. Student politics can be a meaningful training ground for democratic participation when debate remains respectful and focused on issues rather than hostility between groups. What issues should the newly elected DUSU representatives prioritise during their term?
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Breaking: दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय छात्र संघ चुनाव में अखिल भारतीय विद्यार्थी परिषद की तीन सीटों पर ऐतिहासिक जीत!
— ABVP (@ABVPVoice) September 19, 2026
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