ABVP candidates Amit Tanwar, Priyanka Chabri and Ankit Sangwan celebrate their victory after winning the post of president, vice-president and secretary in the 2016 Dusu elections on Saturday. (Photo: Bunny Smith)

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) continued its dominance in Delhi University Students’ Union (Dusu) polls, winning three out of four central panel posts, while NSUI made a comeback, winning the post of joint secretary in the results announced on Saturday.

ABVP’s Amit Tanwar was elected the new president of Dusu, defeating NSUI candidate Nikhil Yadav by a margin of 4,680 votes.

Priyanka and Ankit Singh of ABVP have been elected as vice-president and secretary respectively.

NSUI candidate Mohit Garid won the contest for the joint secretary’s post, ending its two year-long drought. It had been a clean sweep for the ABVP in the last two Dusu elections. The ABVP students’ body had bagged all the four seats in the Dusu polls last year as well as in 2014.

AAP’s Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti did not contest the election this year.

On the victory that comes in the backdrop of the JNU sedition row, the saffron student outfit said that the DU students have “rejected” the politics of those who stoke “anti-India sentiments”. “Our victory is a result of our commitment to the students issues. Implementation of the Room Rent Control Act, 24X7 library and new hostels will be my key priorities,” the newly-elected Dusu president said.

Celebrations broke out with bursting of crackers and loud cheering at the Kingsway camp counting venue as the results were announced. ABVP supporters lifted the victorious candidates on their shoulders and posed for photos flashing the ‘victory’ sign.

The winners were garlanded and processions were taken out by ABVP supporters who paid tributes at Swami Vivekananda’s statue at the Arts Faculty of the university.

Union minister Arun Jaitley, who was elected Dusu president in 1974, congratulated ABVP on its victory. “Congratulations to DU students & #ABVP on comprehensively winning President, VP & Secretary posts in #DUSUPolls All the best to ABVP team,” he tweeted.

BJP president Amit Shah too congratulated the ABVP candidates, describing the victory as “the triumph of nationalism”.

“Congrats to ABVP. #Dusu verdict is triumph of Nationalism. Youth have reposed their faith in constructive politics,” he tweeted.