New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- As ABVP claimed the DUSU presidency for 2026-27, the result has once again put the spotlight on a student union that has long doubled as a launchpad for many national leaders. Yet how did a student body that began as a proposal in a university committee room become a contest that parties and the public watch so closely?

Over 77 years, Members of Parliament, Chief Ministers, Union Ministers and legislators have risen through DUSU's ranks. That record, together with a tradition of activism that runs from the Quit India Movement to the Emergency, is why DUSU remains relevant long after its founding.

According to the student union's historical records, a provisional committee under VKRV Rao, then head of DU's Economic...