DUSU poll: NSUI makes a comeback after 7 years, wins presidential race   

The National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Congress-backed student body, made a remarkable comeback in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, securing the President and Joint Secretary positions after a gap of seven years.

In a closely contested race, NSUI's Rounak Khatri emerged victorious in the presidential race, defeating the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Rishabh Chaudhary by over 1,300 votes. Khatri secured 20,207 votes, while Chaudhary received 18,864 votes.

This marks the first time since 2017 that the NSUI has held the presidential post. The last NSUI president was Rocky Tuseed, who won in 2017.

In the outgoing union, the ABVP held the positions of president, joint secretary and secretary while the NSUI held the vice president’s post.

In what can be described as a power split, both NSUI and ABVP secured two posts each. While NSUI clinched the prestigious president and joint secretary posts, ABVP managed to retain the vice president and secretary positions, maintaining a presence within the union.

ABVP’s Bhanu Pratap Singh became the vice president post with 24,166 votes, defeating NSUI’s Yash Nandal, who garnered 15,404 votes. Mitravinda Karanwal, contesting for the secretary’s post, won with 16,703 votes, outdoing NSUI’s Namrata Jeph Meena, who had initially led in early trends.

NSUI also made strides by securing the joint secretary’s position, with Lokesh Choudharydefeating ABVP’s Aman Kapasia, a national-level archer. Choudhary’s victory marks the first time NSUI has held the Joint Secretary position since 2016.

The last time the power was split evenly between NSUI and ABVP was in 2017, when NSUI held the president and vice president posts, while ABVP controlled the secretary and joint secretary positions.

Following the results, celebrations erupted as NSUI supporters, mostly from Congress's student wing, gathered in large numbers, chanting slogans and cheering for their leaders. This victory marks a significant revival of the Congress party's presence in the influential student body after nearly a decade of dominance by ABVP.

The DUSU, the representative body for students from Delhi University’s member colleges, faculties, and teaching departments, will serve a term from August 16 of each year to August 15 of the following year. The election results signal a shift in the dynamics of the student union, with both NSUI and ABVP securing strong footholds.