The 'curious' case of Buddhist Studies department: Why it remains an epicentre in DUSU politics

New Delhi: In the annual churn of student politics in Delhi University, a department has emerged as an unlikely launchpad for leaders year after the year: Buddhist Studies, a postgraduate course devoted to Buddhist literature, philosophy and history.

This year, seven of the 10 candidates who contested the four central-panel posts in the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) elections were from the Department of Buddhist Studies, including both presidential candidates -- ABVP's Yash Dabas and NSUI's Vijai Shankar Meena.

Dabas won the president's post with 24,576 votes on Saturday, defeating Meena, who secured 22,523 votes.


Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen, who is also currently pursuing a Master's in Buddhist Studies, won the vice-president's post with 30,615 votes. The last time an independent candidate won a DUSU central-panel post was in 2009, when Manoj Chaudhury of the same department had assumed the role of union's president.

Also read | ABVP wins 3 DUSU posts; independent Shokeen gets VP post

The department's footprint extended to the other three posts this year. NSUI's Namrata contested for the secretary's post, while Gopal Chaudhary of the NSUI and Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha's Vishesh Yadav -- all from the Department of Buddhist Studies -- were among the three students running for the joint-secretary race.

However, this year's victory is not an isolated instance of the Buddhist Studies students making it to the DUSU central panel. A look at the results over the past few elections shows the department repeatedly featuring among the winners.

In 2025, NSUI's Rahul Jhansla, from the same department, won the vice-president's post, while Karan and Deepika Jha won the secretary and joint secretary posts, respectively.

Before that, in 2024, NSUI's Lokesh Choudhary, another MA Buddhist Studies student, won the joint-secretary's post.

In 2023, ABVP's Tushar Dedha won the president's post in the first DUSU election after the three-year COVID interruption.

The question, then, is not merely why Buddhist Studies students contest elections, but why a department that is neither among DU's largest nor an obvious political training ground repeatedly produces candidates for its most visible student offices.

Professor Kamakhiya Narain Tiwary, head of the department, said the answer lies less in politics than in the nature of the course itself.

"Buddhist Studies is open to students from every stream. We have a comparatively larger number of seats, so students who may not find their way into other specialised departments can be accommodated here," he said.

The department has around 200 seats, with admission through CUET and selection based on the entrance-test score. The course does not require students to have studied Buddhist literature at the undergraduate level.

That, Tiwary said, makes the subject accessible to students who come from very different academic backgrounds.

"Buddhism is essentially a humanities subject, and much of its basic vocabulary is already familiar to Indian students. A student from Science or Commerce can also enter the subject without having studied it before," he said.

There is another, more practical, explanation for its recurring political presence. Unlike courses involving laboratory or practical work, the course gives students more flexibility outside the classroom.

"The department and politics are two separate things. Students are admitted to study, and our responsibility is to ensure that they attend classes, maintain attendance, and complete the academic requirements. What they choose to do after class is their decision," Tiwary said.

He also rejected the idea that politically ambitious students routinely use the department as a temporary stop before abandoning academics.

"That may have happened earlier, but it is not the current trend. Students now complete their MA. Some of those who were student leaders have even gone on to pursue PhDs," he said.

Others, however, read the pattern differently. An NSUI member alleged that the repeated presence of ABVP candidates from the department pointed to a political inclination within it.

Meanwhile, ABVP members rejected the suggestion, saying that their electoral success comes from year-round organisational work and was unrelated to the course a candidate pursued.

The numbers alone cannot establish that the department produces political leaders. But they do establish a recurring pattern: a relatively small, open-entry postgraduate department has repeatedly become a visible springboard in the making of DUSU's political leadership.

The 'curious case' of Buddhist Studies, then, may have less to do with a department producing politicians than with a department that happens to offer the right combination -- broad eligibility, sizeable intake and academic flexibility -- for students who already want to be in politics.