The roads of Delhi University’s North Campus are no longer buried under heaps of political flyers, but the 2025 Students’ Union election still carries the same tether to national politics.

For the two big players – the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the BJP-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) – money and muscle remain the backbone of campaigning. Long Thar caravans, free thalis, and celebrity endorsements dominated the ground, while social media reels, often set to Haryanvi tracks, have taken a central role under stricter restrictions on physical campaigning.

Two days ago, a reel with Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt went viral with over 7 million views. In it, Dutt called ABVP’s presidential candidate Aryan Maan his nephew (bhatija) and asked Delhi University students to vote heavily for the ABVP candidates. 

In the middle of this reel-heavy campaign, Miranda House came up with a Manifesto Reading event, giving 10 minutes to all student groups for speaking and interaction. However, ABVP members faced a slightly unusual protest. Amid chants of “ABVP go back!”, a student sitting in the last row took off her shoe and showed it to members of the RSS-affiliated group.

Aryan Maan had faced similar resistance before, when he stood on a table in the canteen and faced slogans against him and his party.

Equally bizarre has been the use of Doraemon and Mickey Mouse costumes, being worn by men, that stood outside colleges with names and numbers of candidates. Whether this is to memeify the elections or just to make students care (for fun), DU elections in 2025 are “same, same, but different”.

Top artistes, politicians rally behind ABVP candidate

Aryan Maan’s name first appeared in the probable candidates list released by ABVP in 2024, but he did not contest. This year, however, he has been selected as ABVP’s choice for DUSU president. 

Mann is a resident of Bahadurgarh in Haryana and is currently pursuing a Masters in Library Science, after having completed his B Com from Hansraj College. 

Apart from Sanjay Dutt, Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari, Minister of State of Cooperation Krishan Pal Gurjar, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, influencers like Haryanvi singer Masum Sharma and judoka Sachin Mann (with a following of 2 million on Instagram), have also shown support for Maan by either campaigning on ground or making reels.

In a podcast with DU Today, Maan said that he had taken admission through the sports quota after playing football at the national level, and that he comes from a family of pehelwans (wrestlers). “My family is also from a sports background. My grandfather was a wrestler; he taught the same to my father. Even my two elder uncles were also into wrestling.”

His claim, however, has been contested by his opponent, NSUI candidate Joslyn Nandita Choudhary. She uploaded a reel on her Instagram, in which a media report talks about Maan’s family’s liquor business. The report highlights a liquor factory named ADS Spirit Private Limited located in the Beri area of Jhajjar that Maan’s family seems to own. 

Choudhary alleged in the reel that Maan wants to win the elections to promote his alcohol company.

As per media reports highlighting political background, Maan’s grandfather Late Shri Chand Mann was the head of Lova Saatrah Khap and now his uncle Ashok Mann is holding the responsibility of the head of Lova Saatrah Khap. This apparent legacy has garnered support from several Khap leaders and social representatives, including those from Dalal Khap and Palam Khap in Delhi.

Calls to Maan remained unanswered.

A historic nomination for NSUI

For NSUI, Choudhary’s nomination is historic: she is their first female presidential candidate in 17 years. Leaders like Sachin Pilot have campaigned for her. Pursuing a Master’s in Buddhist Studies, she hails from Pal Gaon in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and has been an NSUI member since 2019.

Both NSUI and ABVP accuse each other of indulging in “reel culture” instead of ground work. But follower counts tell another story: Maan has 72K Instagram followers, while Choudhary commands 152K.

The Left alliance

Outside the NSUI–ABVP binary, the Student’s Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Association (AISA) have allied “to take on ABVP,” fielding Anjali as their presidential candidate.

From Gaya, Bihar, Anjali is the daughter of a tour guide and a homemaker. She is remembered for leading protests at Indraprastha College for Women after allegations of harassment during a fest. With little funding, the Left has turned to reels to level the playing field.

Speaking to Newslaundry about the challenges DU faces, Anjali said, “This is supposed to be a dream university, but undergraduates have to now face a Four-Year Undergraduate Program (FYUP), where, in the guise of enhancement and value addition, yoga and Vedic math will be taught.”

“During my bachelor’s, internal weightage was 25 percent; today it is 45 percent. Teachers have arbitrary powers and even people who are recruited are affiliated to RSS or BJP. They create divisions in class and openly discriminate. Other issues include lack of hostels, getting a metro pass, the Rent Control Act, democratising and making Internal Complaint Committees (ICCs) more functional.”

On being asked about any change in the way DUSU elections are conducted, Anjali said, “DUSU election model continues to be a launching pad for both the organisations (NSUI and ABVP), a way for their bigger political aspirations to be met. Parachute candidates will come, crores will be spent, and both national parties will be involved. Someday, Sachin Pilot will campaign, another day it will be Rekha Gupta…hooliganism makes women, gender minorities, uncomfortable everywhere. They both roam around in long caravans. The rules and regulations have changed this time but that same money is being spent on burger and pizza parties.”

‘Showed them the mirror’

Newslaundry also spoke to the Miranda student who raised her shoe at ABVP members. A final-year English literature student, she explained: “We, as a whole, do not support ABVP’s money-muscle politics. When people started chanting against them, the administration tried to calm us down. So, if they try to silence us, we have to think of new ways. ABVP had sent a dummy candidate (to campaign for Aryan Maan). But seeing that she was talking of women’s safety despite being a member of such an organisation, we realised that if we can’t use words, then we have to do something else.”

She was eventually asked to leave the auditorium by the administration. ABVP too, was sloganeered off the stage. 

Voting will take place on September 18, with results declared the next day. Last year saw the lowest turnout in a decade, at just 29.7 percent.

Though Gen-Z does not constitute a homogenous group, the increased reliance on reels and star power certainly highlights the role of reels and the inevitable reel culture that shapes today’s politics. But will it be enough to get students to vote?

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