ABVP won three of the four central Delhi University Students’ Union posts, including president, secretary and joint secretary
NSUI failed to win any of the four central posts, while independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen won the vice-president election
The result comes after a closely contested presidential race and amid wider political attention on youth sentiment at Delhi University
The victory of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on three out of four posts in the just concluded Delhi University pollson Saturday. It has brought a sigh of relief for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as it suggests that all is not lost for the ruling alliance.
If the victory in the Delhi University polls is any indication of the mood of the youth, then it is clear that ABVP, the students wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), continues to hold sway on the college and university students of Delhi University.
In a closely contested poll, the ABVP’s Yash Dabas won the election for the post of President, Riya Chhawadi was elected for the post of Secretary, and Lakshya Raj Singh was elected for the post of Joint Secretary.
“The victory is a significant boost for ABVP because it represents the triumph of nationalist ideology and nationalist values of ABVP. The victory signifies that ABVP represents the youth and has the trust of the youth,” Virendra Singh Solanki, national general secretary of ABVP told Outlook.
The victory at Delhi University is a big relief for the BJP because the ruling party has been facing the ire of students in several parts of the country and also faced the protest by Gen Z at Jantar Mantar. Cornered by the protests by students that led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, former union education minister, the victory of ABVP will help the BJP change the perception that the youth of the country was moving away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
A Hard-Fought Victory That Was Closely Contest
Even as the ABVP decisively won the Delhi University polls, the impact of the Gen Z protests was clearly visible as the winners of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls won the polls in a closely contested election.
The winning margin of Yash Dabas, who was elected to the post of President, won only by a little over 2,000 votes. While Yash Dabas won 24,576 votes, Vijay Meena of NSUI, the students wing of Congress, got 22,523 votes.
Similarly, Riya Chhawdi of ABVP got 21650 votes while Namrata Chaudhary of NSUI got 14,869 votes. The post of Joint Secretary was the most hard fought as Lakshya Raj Singh of ABVP got 16641 votes, while Gopal Choudhary of NSUI got 15,106.
The big surprise of the Delhi University polls was the massive victory of Deepanshu Shokeen who got 30,615 votes, while his nearest rival, Ishu Maurya of ABVP could only manage 16,910 votes. The victory of Shokeen is also interesting because he was the rebel candidate of NSUI. Celebrating its victory at the Delhi University polls, ABVP leaders also said that the victory of Shokeen suggested that NSUI was rejected by the students while support was visible for ABVP candidates and independents.
“The voice of the youth is loud and clear!!! Hearty Congratulations to all winning candidates of ABVP in the Delhi University Students Union election and its cadres as well as well-wishers,” Kiren Rijiju, union minister said on social media platform X.
Relief For ABVP And BJP
The clear victory of ABVP in the Delhi University polls is likely to bring the much-needed relief to both ABVP and the ruling BJP because both the organisations were worried about losing the support base of youth.
The BJP leadership has always taken pride in the support of youth but the recent protests by Gen Z caused concerns within the two organisations. The victory of ABVP is part of a string of victories for the organization in less than a month.
Almost three weeks before the results of the DUSU polls, ABVP won the post of president at the Punjab University Students Council post for the second consecutive year. The victory was possible because Students’ Organisation of India, the students wing of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) supported the ABVP candidate at the last minute.
“If we look at the present scenario and at the constant targeting by the opposition and Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) then the victory in the Delhi University polls and Punjab University polls is a massive boost for BJP and also for ABVP,” said a senior BJP leader on the condition of anonymity.
Senior leaders of the ABVP and BJP both pointed out that the recent building collapse at Satya Niketan in which at least 7 people were killed led to the fear that students would turn completely against the ABVP and BJP.
