India, Sept. 20 -- 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. 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 histor...