New Delhi, September 21, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Newly elected Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) Vice-President Deepanshu Shokeen has said Congress’ student wing NSUI’s poor performance in the recent DUSU elections was linked to internal politics and criticised AICC in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar for not taking greater responsibility for the organisation’s poll strategy.
In an exclusive interaction with IANS, Shokeen said Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been in charge of NSUI since July 2023, should have assessed the ground situation and the preparedness of potential candidates before the elections.
“Somewhere, Kanhaiya Kumar should take responsibility. He is in-charge in the party, and I believe he must have played a role… He should have taken a clear stand, come to the ground, and checked who was strong and who had the preparation,” Shokeen said.
The comments came after NSUI failed to win any of the four central DUSU posts. ABVP won the President, Secretary and Joint Secretary positions, while Shokeen, contesting as an Independent after seeking an NSUI ticket, won the Vice-President’s post with 30,615 votes.
Shokeen defeated ABVP’s Ishu Maurya, who polled 16,910 votes, while NSUI candidate Vir Chatrath received 4,313 votes.
Addressing questions about his own candidature, Shokeen said there had been no final decision on who would contest the DUSU presidential election. He said his withdrawal from the NSUI Vice-President contest was followed by confusion over ticket distribution and the emergence of multiple Independent candidates who had earlier been associated with NSUI.
“Why was the issue not taken to the higher ups? Because if it had reached the higher-ups, we were deserving and would have been given the ticket,” he said, alleging that internal politics influenced the process.
Shokeen also questioned the way candidate selection was handled, saying decisions should have been based on ground-level assessments of student support and the preparedness of potential candidates.
“When three Independent candidates were contesting from NSUI, the direct question arises: How?” he said, adding that candidates were allegedly given assurances about contesting but remained unclear about their status until the end.
On the role of internal politics, Shokeen said those managing the election process should have assessed the ground reality before finalising candidates.
“Decisions should have been made after checking the ground reality — seeing whom Gen Z supports, who is deserving, and by coming among the students to take those decisions,” he said.
Shokeen also spoke about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ initiative, saying students remained connected with Gandhi and appreciated his focus on education and youth issues. However, he said the initiative needed stronger implementation at the grassroots level.
“Students feel very connected with Rahul Gandhi. Somewhere, he has become the voice of the students, raises their issues, and talks about education. But his initiative should be taken to the ground level,” Shokeen said.
He added that he had met Gandhi around three times and felt connected with him, but alleged that people at lower levels sometimes acted as a barrier between students and the senior leadership.
The 2026 DUSU results marked a setback for NSUI, which failed to secure any central-panel post, while Shokeen’s Independent victory marked a notable break from the dominance of established student organisations in the central panel.
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