DUSU Elections 2026: How hostels became the new battleground for campus politics

For years, DUSU elections have revolved around the familiar campus fault lines — FYUP and NEP, fee hikes, women’s safety, Metro concessions, placements and campus infrastructure. In 2023, the return of student polls after a four-year gap put FYUP, rising PG rents and the hostel shortage on the agenda; in 2024, the fight widened to infrastructure, ICCs and the rollback of FYUP.But in 2026, the election has found a more immediate nerve. A roof over a student’s head.Hostels are no longer just another item buried in a manifesto, they have become the centre of the campaign, with accommodation promises from the major student groups coming against a severe shortage of seats and rising dependence on expensive PGs and rented rooms.And then arrived the political spark. The Delhi government’s announcement of hostels for 10,000 students has pushed student housing even further into the electoral spotlight, while the recent Satya Niketan building collapse has made the question of where DU students live, and how safely they live there, impossible to ignore. Today, as students vote, the hostel may well be the most tangible symbol of what this election is really about. Not just campus politics, but the cost of living and studying in Delhi. A student sleeping on the floor at DU college (Photo: Screengrab/Instagram/MO) THE PROMISE AND THE FIREWORKS...On September 15, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced that the Delhi government would develop hostel facilities for 10,000 students and frame a wider policy on student accommodation. The government said locations had been identified and that the facilities would be open to male and female students from colleges and universities across Delhi. An 18-member committee has also been constituted to assess the demand-supply gap and examine land availability, including the possible use of vacant government land and buildings.That announcement immediately entered the DUSU campaign.For NSUI (National Students' Union of India), the question was not whether students needed hostels. The party's national president, Vinod Jakhar asked, “Now, just two days before DUSU voting, the government has announced hostels for 10,000 students. Where will these hostels be built?” He also sought a “transparent, time-bound plan” rather than what he described as an announcement without details.Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) hit back, accusing Congress and NSUI of politicising an issue they had themselves been raising. The Delhi state secretary Sarthak Sharma said, “From making reels by hammering the debris at the time of the Satya Niketan tragedy to now questioning the announcement of hostels for 10,000 students, Congress-NSUI has repeatedly sought to politicise issues concerning students.”The ABVP also questioned whether NSUI wanted an actual solution to the accommodation crisis or merely wanted to keep the issue politically alive.The timing is particularly significant because both ABVP and NSUI have made student accommodation a central DUSU election issue this year, following the Satya Niketan tragedy. (Photo: PTI) TWO MANIFESTOS, ONE BIG ISSUEABVP had already put accommodation at the heart of its manifesto released on September 14.Under its 'Awas' section, the organisation promised new hostels across DU colleges, a dedicated student housing cell and helpline, separate girls' hostels in every college, and safety audits and regulatory compliance checks for hostels and PG facilities.The manifesto also linked accommodation with wider student safety, including stronger women's safety measures and grievance redressal.An ABVP member told India Today that the organisation had been raising the hostel issue for years. “We were the first to sense the gravity of the issue. We protested in 2022. We submitted the proposal many times, but the DU administration never seemed to take the issue seriously.”The member said the bigger challenge now would be completing projects, pointing to possible problems around funding and implementation.“This time, we want to do it, and we will do it,” the member said, adding that the organisation would continue pushing for hostel access for DU students.NSUI's manifesto took a somewhat broader route. Released under the title 'Accountable DU: Accountable DUSU', it proposed affordable student housing through stronger implementation of rent-control provisions and a verified university portal for affordable PG and rental accommodation.It also promised affordable metro concession passes, scholarships and financial support for SC/ST students, alongside proposals such as menstrual leave, 24-hour reading libraries and subsidised round-the-clock canteens.NSUI's Vikas Yadav said hostel and PG accommodation had become one of the most pressing problems for students, particularly those coming to Delhi from states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Watch video here“Living is a big issue,” he said, adding that expensive commuting and the absence of affordable university transport also add to the burden.For him, the list of concerns extends from accommodation to metro concessions, fee hikes and scholarships for students who cannot afford higher education.WHY A ROOM HAS BECOME A POLL ISSUEThe reason housing has acquired such weight is simple: DU has expanded, but hostel capacity has not kept pace.According to DU's 2024-25 annual report, the university had around 2.51 lakh enrolled students. Yet the university and its colleges together had an estimated 6,500–7,000 hostel places — enough for fewer than four out of every 100 students.For students coming from outside Delhi, this creates a second problem after admission: where to live.Those who cannot secure a university or college hostel have to turn to private PGs, rented rooms or shared accommodation. Areas around North and South Campus have developed large student-rental markets because institutional accommodation cannot absorb the demand.Mukherjee Nagar is one example of how closely accommodation and student life have become linked. DU itself has hostels in the Dhaka complex in the Mukherjee Nagar area. Its Undergraduate Hostel for Girls has 344 rooms and accommodates students from colleges and departments across both North and South campuses, while the Rajiv Gandhi Hostel for Girls is also located in the area.In June 2023, a fire at a building housing coaching centres injured 61 students. Some had to escape using ropes as smoke and fire spread through the premises. Several coaching centres did not have the required fire safety NOC. Fire at a coaching institute at Mukherjee Nagar HOW DID THE HOSTEL ISSUE BEGIN?The Satya Niketan collapse did not create Delhi University's accommodation shortage. It exposed how serious the shortage already was.On September 6, a five-storey paying guest building in Satya Niketan, near DU's South Campus, collapsed. Seven people were killed, including five students. Rescue teams pulled people from the debris, while reports of students making calls from under the rubble brought the risks of private student accommodation sharply into focus.The building was private PG accommodation, not a DU hostel, but the tragedy raised questions about the wider housing system around the university which DU lacks.After the collapse, students protested and demanded accountability and safer accommodation. The issue also drew attention from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which demanded accountability and safety audits of PG accommodations across Delhi. Its demands included an independent investigation and expansion of hostel facilities.The tragedy therefore changed the language around hostels. What had earlier been largely a question of convenience, rent and availability, became a question of safety. PG building collapse in Delhi's South Campus, Satya Niketan (Photo: PTI) DU WAS ALREADY BEING ASKED TO ADD BEDSThe university moved to review the issue soon after the collapse.On September 10, DU asked its colleges to examine existing residential facilities and explore possibilities for expanding hostel accommodation. Several new hostel projects were expected to be submitted as the university looked at ways to increase safe and affordable student housing.But increasing beds is not as straightforward as announcing them.Funding, available land, approvals and construction timelines all affect how quickly hostel projects can actually move. DU has previously pointed to different funding responsibilities between Delhi government-funded colleges and colleges receiving funding through the University Grants Commission.That gap between demand and delivery is now part of the political conversation.ABVP says it has been raising the issue since 2022. NSUI is promising affordable housing and a system to make PGs easier to find and verify. The Delhi government has announced 10,000 hostel places.But students will ultimately judge the issue on something much more basic: whether a safe and affordable room is actually available when they need one.And that is why, on the day of the DUSU election, hostel politics has moved from the background of campus life to the centre of the campaign.- EndsPublished By: Princy ShuklaPublished On: Sep 18, 2026 06:45 IST