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DUSU results: The story beyond ABVP’s domination

By Sohail Khan 20 September 2026, 1:25 pm

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Business News›News›India›DUSU results: ABVP dominates seats, but vote numbers reveal a more fragmented contest

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DUSU results: ABVP dominates seats, but vote numbers reveal a more fragmented contest
Synopsis

DUSU results show an election dominated by ABVP in seats but marked by fragmented voting patterns. Independent Deepanshu Shokeen secured the highest central-panel tally, while SCS came close in the joint secretary race. The AISA-SFI alliance’s vote share fell in three contests despite its CJP mobilisation, while ASAP made its debut.

dusu election winner 2026 Update — DUSU’s results point to ABVP’s dominance in seats but also reveal growing space for independents and smaller outfits, alongside a decline in the AISA-SFI alliance’s vote tally in three central-panel contests.

The final DUSU numbers tell a more complicated story than the three-one seat split in favour of ABVP.

Independent Deepanshu Shokeen topped the central panel vote tally by a wide margin, while the presidential and joint secretary contests remained closely fought deep into counting.

Also read: DUSU elections 2026: Who won what? Check President, Vice-President, Secretary and Joint Secretary results

The AISA-SFI alliance, meanwhile, saw its vote tally decline in three of the four races despite its participation in the CJP mobilisation, according to an analysis by ToI's Sugandha Jha.

Shokeen polled 30,615 votes to win the vice president’s post by 13,705 votes. His tally was higher than that of every other candidate on the four-member central panel.

The 21-year-old postgraduate student of Buddhist studies had earlier been associated with Congress-affiliated NSUI. A resident of Peeragarhi and the son of a DTC bus conductor and an anganwadi worker, he contested as an Independent following a dispute over ticket distribution.

His campaign gave him an identity separate from the established student-organisation contest. Analysts said support among Jat students, as well as voters beyond the community, contributed to his base. His decision to remain barefoot while seeking justice for students killed in the Satya Niketan building collapse also became a prominent feature of his campaign.

Addressing questions about his break with NSUI, Shokeen said, “Irrespective of who I represent, I am going to focus on students’ issues. The major focus should be on who can address students’ issues and whom students believe in, not which party or community they come from.”

NSUI’s vice presidential candidate Vir Chatrath, however, claimed Shokeen had not been denied a ticket and had instead been offered the presidential post.

Close races show limits of two-party reading

The presidential contest was much tighter than the final result suggests. After 10 rounds, NSUI’s Vijay Shankar Meena was ahead of ABVP’s Yash Dabas by 524 votes, with 11,966 against 11,442.

Dabas subsequently moved ahead and won by 2,053 votes. Independent candidate Samarth Beniwal, who was also associated with NSUI, received 819 votes.

The joint secretary contest was even more crowded. After 10 rounds, Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha candidate Vishesh Yadav led with 8,501 votes. NSUI’s Gopal Choudhary was at 8,135, while ABVP’s Lakshay Raj Singh had 8,125.

The lead changed later in the count. Lakshay eventually won with 16,615 votes, just 837 ahead of Yadav, who finished with 15,778. Choudhary polled 15,206.

The numbers leave ABVP with three of the four central panel posts, but also show how votes were distributed across candidates outside the two organisations that have traditionally dominated the DUSU contest.

Shokeen maintained a sizeable lead in the vice president’s race, while Yadav came within 837 votes of the joint secretary post. The presidential contest, meanwhile, remained separated by only a few hundred votes through a substantial portion of counting before Dabas pulled away.

AISA-SFI vote tally falls outside presidential race

The AISA-SFI alliance’s numbers offer another measure of how the election translated political mobilisation into votes.

In 2025, the alliance polled 5,385 votes for president, 4,163 for vice president, 9,535 for secretary and 8,425 for joint secretary.

This year, its candidates secured 5,377 votes for president, 2,383 for vice president, 8,734 for secretary and 5,837 for joint secretary.

The presidential tally was therefore almost unchanged, falling by just eight votes. The decline was considerably larger in the other three contests: 1,780 votes for vice president, 801 for secretary and 2,588 for joint secretary.

The figures came despite the alliance’s prominent participation in the CJP mobilisation and its campaign on issues including student housing, examinations and accountability.

Also read: The 'curious' case of Buddhist Studies department: Why it remains an epicentre in DUSU politics

ASAP enters DUSU electoral contest

The election also marked the first formal DUSU appearance of ASAP, AAP’s relaunched student outfit, which replaced the earlier CYSS.

ASAP polled 1,388 votes in the presidential contest and 7,639 for secretary. Its secretary candidate, Pankaj Kumar, was DUSU’s first ever visually impaired candidate to contest and finished last in the race.

CYSS had previously contested DUSU in 2015 and 2018 but did not win a central panel post.

(With inputs from ToI)

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