United Left sweeps JNU student polls
“It’s a mandate against violence and fascism. The students have shown them (ABVP) that JNU is not the place to perform their blatant show of power,” said Balaji.
The turnout in the election held on Friday was 67.8%, with at least 5,000 students casting their votes. A total of 1,148 votes were polled in NOTA (none of the above) for the central panel.
The results, declared two days after the voting, were marred by a delay of over 14 hours in the wake of some Left leaders accusing the ABVP of breaking into the counting centre and manhandling election committee (EC) members.
The ABVP, for its part, said the counting began in the absence of its agents. Members of the poll panel denied the charge, saying ABVP members were given enough time to reach the centre.
As soon as early trends started trickling in on Sunday morning, Left Unity supporters gathered outside the School of International Studies, where counting was held. Shouting slogans and dancing to the beats of tambourine, they were seen celebrating throughout the day.
The ABVP, which continues to be the second force at JNU, said it will to fight the “Left force” at the campus.
“Four Left parties had to come together to defeat us. It itself shows our popularity at the campus. We accept the mandate given by the students and we will continue to fight for their issues as an opposition,” said ABVP’S presidential candidate, Pandey.
Like in 2017, the candidates of Ambedkarite group Birsa Ambedkar Phule Student Association (BAPSA) finished third on all seats.
“We are grateful of students’ support. We will continue working for them despite not being elected in the union,” said Thallapalli Praveen, its presidential candidate.
Though the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) could not win any seat, it put up an improved performance, finishing fourth on three central panel posts.
In the president’s post, Jayant Kumar, the candidate of firsttime contender Rashtriya Janata Dal, came third. “This is just the beginning. We will work hard and give more reasons to students to look beyond the left and right politics in the coming years,” Kumar said.