The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad swept three of the four central panel posts in the Delhi University Students’ Union elections after twenty rounds of counting. Yash Dabas won the presidency for ABVP with 24,576 votes against the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India candidate Vijay Shankar Meena. ABVP also secured the Secretary and Joint Secretary posts, while an independent candidate and former NSUI member, Deepanshu Shokeen, won the Vice President position. The outcome resulted in a complete washout for NSUI, leaving them without a single central panel post.
Voting took place on Friday across 52 of the 91 affiliated colleges, achieving a turnout of 40.46 percent, the highest in three years. Several prominent institutions, including St Stephen’s College, Lady Shri Ram College, and Jesus and Mary College, abstained from the process. The election campaigns partly focused on hostel and paying-guest safety following a building collapse in Satya Niketan that killed seven people, including five students. Following his victory, Dabas stated that a safety audit of student housing would be his administration’s first priority.
Ahead of the results, the Delhi High Court barred victory processions on roads, in hostels, and on college premises, directing the Delhi Police to prevent such gatherings. A total of twenty candidates from ABVP, NSUI, and a joint panel of the All India Students’ Association and Students’ Federation of India contested the four central posts. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders viewed the results as a sign that young voters are rejecting Congress-style politics, while the shutout raises questions for the Congress party regarding the health of its youth wing.