DUSU polls: Focus on college-specific issues, Rahul Gandhi’s popularity propelled our win, says NSUI
Ravi Pandey, NSUI’s Media Department chairman, credited the victory to the party’s focus on local issues.
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Its presidential candidate Ronak Khatri secured 20,207 votes — 39.86% of the 50,689 total votes polled. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)College-specific issues to national political dynamics, especially the “growing popularity” of Rahul Gandhi — for the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), these are primary factors behind its comeback to the top post in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU).
Results of the polls, announced Monday evening, saw the NSUI bagging the post of President after a gap of seven years. Its presidential candidate Ronak Khatri secured 20,207 votes — 39.86% of the 50,689 total votes polled. This is slightly more than the votes secured by last year’s presidential winner, Hitesh Gulia, who received 20,345 votes (37.61%) out of 54,092.
The NSUI also won the post of joint secretary. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won two posts — Vice-President and Secretary.
The student outfit attributed its win to the sharp focus on college-specific concerns like women’s safety, infrastructure, and student welfare, as well as the broader impact of the Congress’s growing national momentum under Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Ravi Pandey, NSUI’s Media Department chairman, credited the victory to the party’s focus on local issues. “We prioritised college-specific concerns, particularly around women’s safety. The ABVP’s repetitive manifesto and unfulfilled promises eroded students’ trust in them, which worked in our favour,” he said.
Pandey also pointed to national political dynamics, including Rahul Gandhi’s growing influence, as factors in their success”. “Results of the recent Lok Sabha polls and Rahul Gandhi’s rising popularity positively impacted student sentiment. Additionally, contributions of NSUI National President Varun Choudhary and the influence of Kanhaiya Kumar, the All India Congress Committee in-charge, propelled our performance this year.”
The ABVP, meanwhile, attributed its losses to external factors. Harsh Attri, Delhi State Secretary and National Media Convener of the ABVP, accused the NSUI of leveraging “money and muscle power” in the elections. “I don’t believe students lost hope in the ABVP. The delayed results, announced after a High Court directive lowered voter enthusiasm and turnout,” Attri claimed.
He added, “The ABVP won 148 posts in colleges this year, including 41 by female candidates. This demonstrates that students still trust us. While we accept the mandate, elections are not the sole measure of our commitment to student welfare.”
The NSUI last won the post of DUSU president in 2017 and before that in 2011 and 2012. It has been in the running for all four central posts every year for over a decade. The ABVP bagged the president’s seat in 2016, 2018 and 2019. In the previous two elections (2023 and 2019), NSUI bagged one seat out of four in the central panel.
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