Fracas with faculty to surprise ‘inspections’ of paan shops: DU students’ union president Ronak Khatri has been turning heads on campus

A few frames later, he is seen at a gaushala, feeding cows and bowing in reverence. ‘Gau Mata, Rashtra Mata,’ reads the caption.

This is how Khatri – the first president of the Congress’ student wing, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), to take charge of DUSU after seven years in 2024 – presents himself on the popular app, where he has crafted a parallel persona for his nearly 2 lakh followers.

His social media presence is steeped in striking visuals, symbolism, and theatrics — an ongoing narrative of a leader who, as he openly declares, intends to step into national politics with plans to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

In the months since he stepped into the top post, however, his aggressive activism on campus has raised eyebrows and sparked concern within DU circles. Last month, a video showing Khatri confronting the vice-principal and a faculty member at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) went viral. The footage showed Khatri addressing officials, his voice raised, demanding answers over the treatment of stray dogs on campus.

Khatri has also conducted surprise inspections of tobacco shops. “These drugs are dangerous and deadly… they pollute the youth’s mentality,” he says in one video, calling for police action against shopkeepers selling tobacco near colleges.

The 23-year-old, however, is quick to play down these concerns, focusing instead on his campus outreach. “The journey so far has been great… Since becoming president, we have launched several initiatives for improving college infrastructure, providing drinking water, and running donation drives for poor children,” he tells The Indian Express.

A third-year law student at Campus Law Centre, he hails from Delhi’s Narela and is the only child of a homemaker and a businessman.

He is known on campus as ‘Matkaman’ for placing water pots around the varsity during the scorching heat. His recent Instagram feed includes footage of him feeding strays and launching cleanliness drives

Khatri claims to have visited 32 colleges in less than two months, documenting every stop with video reels that begin with his signature line – “Inquilab saathiyon (Revolutionary greetings, friends).”

Faculty voice concerns

After the SRCC fracas, the college’s Staff Association condemned Khatri’s “unruly misbehaviour” and the “malicious social media campaign to defame the college”. It also called for legal action, a ban on his entry to campus, and a referral to the university’s Proctor and the cyber cell.

“Even if a student union president is critiquing the system, there is a boundary,” says the principal of a North Campus college. “You are speaking to teachers and officers, there has to be a basic level of respect… barging into offices, calling up principals directly, and staging cameras behind you, this isn’t student politics as we have known it for decades.”

A senior DU official agrees. “Khatri’s body language is deeply disrespectful. ABVP leaders have agitated before, but they have never crossed that line. Now, it feels like provocation is deliberate…”

In January, Khatri led a group of students to the office of DU’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts and questioned his academic credentials. “How did you become the dean?” he asked.

Associate Professor Abha Dev Habib of Miranda House says, “Although the issues he is raising are genuine, his approach is not acceptable. There is a rise of masculine politics on campus these days.”

Prof. Rasal Singh, Principal of DU’s Ramanujan College, says universities must never become havens for criminal behavior under the banner of student politics.

“Without swift corrective measures, we risk empowering self-styled champions of student rights to act with impunity – engaging in activities such as extortion, unlawful occupation of hostels and guest houses, and fostering environments ripe for harassment and violence. Such a situation would ultimately devastate the core mission of our campuses: high-quality teaching and learning,” he adds.

Singh was the DUSU vice-president candidate from the ABVP panel in 2000.

Khatri, however, has an answer to his “aggressive” approach: “If teachers listen to the issues faced by students, there is no need to argue. But when teachers don’t listen and pressure students, any normal person would behave like this… If I am heard, I would not feel the need to take an aggressive tone.”

Asked about the SRCC issue, he says he was acting on behalf of students who had complained about the administration’s apathy toward dogs on campus. “This is not just an issue of animal care, but of student safety…”

He had earlier said in a statement: “The administration refused to recognise me as an elected DUSU president. The vice principal was aggressive, not me.”

Political sparring

According to Khatri’s supporters, the hostility against him stems from ideological bias and entrenched resistance.

Ravi Pandey, NSUI’s media chairperson, says: “The atmosphere in DU right now is deeply polarised. The administration is full of people aligned a certain way, and many faculty members are unwilling to even meet the union members, forcing Ronak to fight harder for student issues.“

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), however, accused Khatri of copying its outreach style.

Harsh Attri, ABVP’s national media convener, says, “What happened at SRCC was unfortunate and certainly not commendable. The teacher in question was merely attempting to ease the situation, and the response by the university’s student leader… was unnecessarily aggressive and disrespectful…”

“It’s evident that certain student leaders are now attempting to imitate ABVP’s model of constructive campus engagement – whether it is through college visits or raising local issues…,” he adds.

“… The ABVP has always upheld the decorum of student-teacher relations, grounded in the ethos of the guru-shishya tradition. We believe that activism must be principled, constructive and responsible – not disruptive.”

Pandey, however, says, the ABVP’s allegations are baseless. “There’s nothing to copy here. Ronak is genuinely engaging with students. This isn’t about personal attacks, it’s about a president from a different ideology being deliberately stonewalled. The lack of faculty support and ABVP’s behaviour is making it difficult for the union to function.”

Khatri, meanwhile, has started thinking beyond DUSU. “After my term ends, I will prepare for the Lok Sabha elections,” he says.