DUSU polls: 1st independent win in 17 years after DTC conductor’s son Deepanshu Shokeen secures VP post

An independent candidate has returned to the Delhi University Students’ Union's central panel after 17 years.

An independent candidate has returned to the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) central panel after 17 years, with Deepanshu Shokeen winning the vice-president post without backing from any student organisation.

Shokeen polled 30,615 votes to defeat ABVP candidate Ishu Maurya, who secured 16,910 votes. (Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Shokeen polled 30,615 votes to defeat ABVP candidate Ishu Maurya, who secured 16,910 votes. NSUI’s Vir Chatrath finished third with 4,313 votes, while joint Left candidate Akshat Shikhar polled 2,383 votes.

In 2009, Manoj Choudhary won the president’s election as an independent after the candidates from both ABVP and NSUI were disqualified for violating the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations. However, at the time, ABVP backed Choudhary.

Shokeen is also the first independent vice-president in DUSU’s history. Only three independent candidates have won DUSU elections before, all for the president position. These include Rajiv Goswami in 1991 and Narinder Kumar Mehta in 1958.

“I was confident that I would win, but the margin with which I won took me by surprise,” Shokeen told HT.

He said he was disappointed not to be named the NSUI candidate. “I have been working on the ground with students for the past four years. Even though my party withdrew its support at the last minute, my confidence came from the hard work I had put in. A party can only give you a ticket, but students elect their representative. So, I decided to contest independently,” said Shokeen.

“I had very little time to prepare. Within just three days, I had to launch my own manifesto and campaign,” he said.

The 21-year-old is a graduate of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and is pursuing a master’s in the Department of Buddhist Studies. A resident of West Delhi’s Peeragarhi village, he has been active in student politics since 2023 with NSUI. He tried to secure an NSUI ticket twice – in 2025 and 2026.

Shokeen’s father is a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus conductor, and his mother is an ASHA worker. He has a younger brother who studies in school.

Shokeen said his humble family background taught him the ground realities and how to face hardships to achieve goals.

“I have been protesting since the Satya Niketan incident. If I had not won, I would have returned to protest. But now that I have won, I intend to use this position to address the issue of on-campus accommodation,” he added.