New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- For weeks, Deepanshu Shokeen walked barefoot across Delhi University's campuses. On Saturday, he walked into the DUSU central panel as its newly elected vice-president, securing 30,615 votes as an independent candidate. The son of a Delhi Transport Corporation bus conductor and an Anganwadi worker from Peeragarhi village in west Delhi, Shokeen defeated ABVP's Ishu Maurya, who polled 16,910 votes, by a margin of 13,705 votes. NSUI's Virr Chatrath received 4,313 votes. Yet Shokeen's journey to the election was not supposed to begin as an independent. He had initially sought an NSUI ticket and, according to party officials, was nominated before being asked to withdraw. On September 11, he decided to contest independently, according to his father.
The decision changed the course of his campaign. Without the backing of a major student organisation, Shokeen centred his campaign on issues he said he had experienced himself hostel facilities, university infrastructure and policies. "Whether it is the issue of hostel facility, university infrastructure or policies, I have faced all of them myself," he had said during the campaign. But it was his bare feet that became one of the most visible symbols of his campaign. After the September 6 Satya Niketan building tragedy, in which seven people, including five Delhi University students, died, Shokeen vowed not to wear shoes until justice was delivered to the affected students. Even on result day, he continued to walk barefoot near the counting centre.
For his family, his political journey had taken a different turn from what they had imagined. His parents had wanted him to prepare for the UPSC examination, but Shokeen chose student politics instead. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Buddhist Studies after completing his graduation from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College. His parents said the victory was not merely about their son becoming a leader but about every student who supported him. They thanked the students who stood by Shokeen and said he would continue raising student issues. Students supporting Shokeen also described the result as a "students' victory", saying his campaign demonstrated that an independent candidate could contest without the backing of a major organisation. Shokeen himself echoed that sentiment after the results. In an X post, he thanked Delhi University students and said the victory belonged to every student who wanted real issues to be raised on campus.
His election also leaves behind the dispute that pushed him into the independent contest. Shokeen had criticised organisational shortcomings within NSUI and questioned its candidate-selection process. An NSUI functionary, meanwhile, described his independent candidature as a challenge to the organisation's ticket-distribution process. Now, the barefoot campaigner from Peeragarhi takes his place in the DUSU central panel, with a promise to raise the concerns of students who backed him and a campaign that began with a denied ticket and ended at the ballot box.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.