Published 1 minute ago
Reading Time: 6 minutes
The victory of independent candidate Dipanshu Shokeen for the post of Vice President in the Delhi University Students' Union elections is being discussed the most. His victory prevented the ABVP from capturing all four central panel posts.
Dipanshu has been a member of NSUI. He has been active in student politics since 2023 and has worked as a representative of the students in his college.
He campaigned for NSUI in the elections of 2023 and 2024 and sought a ticket from the organization in 2025, but he did not get the ticket. This time too he had the possibility of getting a ticket from NSUI.
Making these claims in a podcast interview, Dipanshu said, "Due to internal differences in NSUI, many rebel candidates contested the elections as independents."
He also alleges that he was under pressure from the NSUI leadership to spend more money and make a bigger electoral impact in different campuses.
NSUI officials told news agency PTI that Shaukeen was made a candidate by the organization earlier this year, but later he was asked to withdraw his nomination.
The allegation was that Shokeen had publicly criticized 'organizational deficiencies in NSUI' and had raised questions on the method of selection of candidates.
Deepanshu's story is interesting
The story of Dipanshu Shokin, who won the DUSU elections as an independent candidate, is interesting.
Skip to Most Read Skip to content
most read
finished
skip ahead podcast
Dinbhar: Same voice, new style
Big news from the country and the world that made headlines.
episode
finished
In the interview given in that podcast, Deepanshu told that he comes from an ordinary family. His father is a contract bus conductor in DTC, while his mother is an Anganwadi worker.
Dipanshu has also been associated with sports. He has won the gold medal in the national level tug of war competition. Apart from this, he has also played Kabaddi and Wushu.
Despite this, his election campaign mainly focused on students' issues. Their main demands included accountability of Delhi University and government, better campus infrastructure and proper implementation of policies.
According to the English newspaper Indian Express, "21-year-old Shaukeen had pledged not to wear shoes to highlight the housing problems of students after a PG hostel building collapsed in Satya Niketan. Seven people, including five Delhi University students, died in the accident."
Shaukeen, a resident of Peeragarhi village in West Delhi, said that the four years he spent as a student inspired him to join student politics.
He completed BA program from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and is now pursuing master's degree in the Department of Buddhist Studies in the Faculty of Arts.
He won the election for the post of DUSU Vice President by a margin of 13,705 votes.
Shaukeen got 30,615 votes. He defeated ABVP's Ishu Maurya, who got 16,910 votes. NSUI's Veer Chatrath stood third with 4,313 votes.
'Such a big victory was not expected'
Dipanshu Shaukeen told reporters, "For a student representative, what matters more than the political party is how he represents the students' issues and becomes the voice of the students. Therefore, winning the elections was not my only objective."
"My aim was to honor the trust that students have placed in me over the last four years and the bond that has developed between us. I wanted to represent their issues and their voice, which I did. That's why I came forward to contest this election."
"It is definitely difficult to contest elections as an independent, but I had confidence in myself and the students were with me because they had confidence in me. I contested for the students' issues and the students themselves proved that they will support whoever raises voice for them and stands with them."
Shaukeen said, "I expected to win, but not by such a big margin. Now it is most important for me to think about what lies ahead."
Shaukeen looked so confident about his victory that even during the counting of votes, no tension or problem was visible on his face.
His election campaign stood out in the election with large convoys of big student organizations and widespread mobilization.
Instead Shokeen emphasized his direct contact with students. He described those who campaigned with him as 'real students' and also mentioned the support of the students of his area Peeragarhi.
"I had promised that I would be the first to sit in protest," he said, pointing to his bare feet, according to the Indian Express.
He said that he has seen students facing the same problems that he himself has gone through. For this reason, he decided to join student politics, so that the coming generations do not have to go through the same problems.
Promise to make student union accountable
Student housing was the main election issue of Shokeen in these elections. Apart from this, he also emphasized on issues like infrastructure, implementation of National Education Policy, increase in fees and transparency.
Shaukeen said that student politics should not be limited to electoral politics only. He said, "This should be for student rights and student voice."
In a post on
He wrote in another post, "The students trusted me, I just tried to be their voice. Now the responsibility will increase further. I promise that an accountable students' union will be formed in Delhi University."
In the Delhi University Students' Union elections, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has captured three posts, while one post has gone to the account of an independent candidate.
ABVP's Yash Dabas has won the post of President in the DU Students' Union elections.
Whereas, ABVP's Riya Chhawri has won the post of Secretary and Lakshya Raj Singh of ABVP has won the post of Joint Secretary.
