Why DUSU setback puts spotlight on Kanhaiya Kumar, NSUI picks and rebels

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated ABVP has retained the posts of president, secretary and joint secretary in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls, the results of which were announced on Saturday, 19 September. Voting for all the four posts was held on Friday.

By winning three of the four posts, the ABVP decimated the Congress-backed NSUI in a high-stakes contest that unfolded in the backdrop of a recent Gen Z-led protest and the Satya Niketan building collapse that claimed the lives of five Delhi University students.

Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, who had filed his nomination on an NSUI ticket, but was later denied a ticket by the outfit, sprang a surprise by winning the vice-president’s post with a big margin of 13,705 votes.

The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP hailed the “historic” victory of ABVP calling it a “tight slap” on the face of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and an outright rejection of his “politics of falsehood.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the “resounding victory” sent a clear message to the “anti-national” forces that seek to turn “youth power into a laboratory” to push their agenda.

Ticket distribution

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) drew a blank, though its candidates lost the posts of president and joint secretary by narrow margins.

The NSUI’s failure to win any of the four central posts in the DUSU elections has again put the spotlight on ticket distribution in the Congress’s student wing, with one of its rebels winning by a landslide and another putting up a strong challenge, news agency PTI said.

Independent Deepanshu Shokeen, who had sought an NSUI ticket and was initially nominated by the organisation but was later asked to withdraw his nomination, won the vice-president’s post with 30,615 votes, nearly twice the 16,910 secured by the ABVP’s Ishu Maurya.

NSUI’s official candidate Veer Chatrath – the son of senior Congress leader Manish Chatrath – finished a distant third with 4,313 votes.

Vishesh Yadav, another NSUI ticket aspirant who was initially told he had been given the joint secretary’s ticket before it was withdrawn, eventually contested the post with the backing of the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha and finished second with 15,778 votes, behind the ABVP’s Lakshay Raj Singh who polled 16,615 votes. The NSUI’s Gopal Chaudhary bagged 15,206 votes for this post.

Those close to Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, however, rejected suggestions that an ego clash with Shokeen led to him being denied a ticket, the news agency said.

They claimed NSUI had offered Shokeen the presidential nomination but he insisted on contesting for vice-president. They also alleged that Shokeen, a Jat, was reluctant to take on ABVP presidential candidate Yash Dabas, who is also from the community, and claimed there was an understanding between the two. NSUI, they said, was unwilling to concede the presidential contest and instead fielded Vijay Shankar Meena, a tribal candidate.

Who is Kanhaiya Kumar?

Born in Begusarai, Bihar, in 1987, Kanhaiya Kumar served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union and leader of the All-India Students Federation (AISF). He served as a member of the National Executive Council of the Communist Party of India.

Kumar contested the 2019 Indian general election from Begusarai on the Communist Party of India’s ticket.He lost the election, polling a total of 269,976 votes and 22.03% of vote share and secured a distant second position. Kumar lost to Giriraj Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party by 422,217 votes.

Kumar joined the Congress on 28 September 2021. Kumar was appointed the All India Congress Committee in-charge of NSUI in July 2023.

This is not the first time during his tenure that a disgruntled aspirant has defeated or significantly outperformed NSUI’s official nominee.

At Panjab University in 2024, NSUI rebel Anurag Dalal contested for president as an Independent after a row over ticket distribution and won with 3,433 votes. NSUI’s official candidate Rahul Nain managed just 501 votes and finished sixth.

The rebellion was preceded by the resignation of Chandigarh NSUI president Sikander Boora, who backed Dalal and accused the leadership of imposing decisions on the local unit. He was subsequently suspended by the organisation.

Panjab University saw another revolt a year later, when Kumar himself was blamed by a section of NSUI for the choice of candidate.

The local unit and then NSUI national president Varun Chaudhary wanted Sumit Kumar as the presidential candidate, but Kanhaiya Kumar backed Parabjot Singh Gill instead.

Sumit contested outside the NSUI fold and finished second with 2,660 votes. The official NSUI candidate polled only 1,359, while ABVP’s Gaurav Veer Sohal won with 3,148 votes. The episode also sharpened differences between Kumar and Chaudhary within the organisation.

NSUI rebellion

DUSU saw a rebellion last year as well, when former NSUI leader Umanshi Lamba contested for president as an Independent after being denied the ticket and polled 5,522 votes. Her candidature, however, was not decisive.

ABVP’s Aryan Maan won with 28,841 votes against NSUI candidate Joslyn Choudhary’s 12,645 – a gap far larger than Lamba’s tally.

There is an irony too. NSUI’s current national president Vinod Jakhar had himself rebelled after being denied the organisation’s ticket for the Rajasthan University Students’ Union president’s post in 2018. Jakhar contested as an Independent and won. He later returned to the NSUI, headed its Rajasthan unit and was appointed national president in February this year.

The rebellions have come amid a mixed electoral record for NSUI since Kumar took charge. One of his earliest interventions brought success. Kumar travelled to Chandigarh ahead of the 2023 Panjab University polls, where Jatinder Singh, previously associated with the ABVP, joined NSUI in his presence days before polling and was fielded for president.

Singh won with 3,002 votes, giving NSUI the Panjab University presidency.

The return of NSUI in 2024

NSUI followed it with a major victory in Delhi University in 2024, when Ronak Khatri won the DUSU presidency with 20,207 votes, ending the organisation’s seven-year wait for the post. It also won joint secretary.

Earlier this year, Shantanu Shekhar secured the presidency for NSUI at Patna University Students’ Union, while Khushi Kumari won general secretary.

More recently, NSUI swept the student union polls at the BGR Campus in Pauri of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal Central University, winning the posts of president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer, besides three executive posts.

BJP leaders celebrate

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the student outfit’s victory as a “symbol of the youth’s unwavering faith in the Nation First policy.”

“I am confident that the ABVP will continue to work with the same dedication for student interests, national service and nation-building resolve,” Singh said on X.

Several BJP leaders, including Union minister Kiren Rijiju, hailed the ABVP’s victory, describing it as a mandate against the Congress and other opposition parties.

“The students have spoken loud and clear. ‘Jhooth ki goonj’ will not prevail. Only ‘sach ki goonj’ will prevail. Today, it is absolutely clear that the opposition’s empty rhetoric will not work anymore,” Rijju told reporters after DUSU results were announced.

The ABVP victory comes months after the historic youth-led protests at Jantar Mantar that eventually led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The protests were led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)

CJP leader Saurav Das said that a majority of students in DU are against the present regime—but fractured, and hence it benefits the regime. “But this is a silver lining. Those bagging positions must remember they are not kings or queens. The majority DID NOT vote for them,” he said in a post on X.

Instead of focusing on hounding the CJP, it will do well for the Congress and its bureaucratic wings to get their game sorted, Das said.

“That sorting game has been going on for 12 years now and people are losing patience—just like the rebel NSUI candidate who has won with a HUGE margin for VP on being denied NSUI ticket. Some in the Left unity—not all—are too focused on ideological purity and exclusivity. They should wake up and smell the coffee—no one is running to them for their validation,” he said.