While the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) opened its account by winning the presidential post in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) poll, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has made a comeback after 14 years in the JNUSU Central Panel scooping the joint secretary position by defeating the All India Students’ Association (AISA) candidate by a margin of 28 votes.
ABVP’s Saurabh Kumar Sharma won the post by defeating AISA’s Hamid Raza by 27 votes.
AISA, which held all the four positions of JNUSU panel, has been reduced to two posts of vice-president and general secretary. In JNU, which is dominated by the left, the BJP-backed ABVP has given a tough fight in the polls by securing second position (after AISA) for the posts of vice president and general secretary.
“Kanhaiya Kumar, who won the race for the union president’s post, secured a total of 1,029 votes defeating AISA’s Vijay Kumar, who polled 962 votes and lost the top post by a margin of 67 votes,” the CEC for JNUSU polls Praveen Thallapelli said.
AISA’s nominee for the post of vice president and general secretary Shehla Rashid Shora and Rama Naga polled 1,387 and 1,159 votes respectively defeating ABVP candidates Valentina Brahma and Devendra Singh Rajput.
It was in 2001 when Sambit Patra, the BJP spokesperson, had won the president’s post and since then the ABVP struggled to open its account.
For the last two years, AISA had been sweeping the polls by bagging all four positions.
Kanhaiya, who was the show-stealer at the presidential debate, said, “Students were disappointed with AISA as the promises made by it in the recent years have not been fulfilled. The major issue of hostels which they had raised remains unresolved even after them being in power twice.”
Thirty one councillors belonging to several schools in JNU were also elected on Sunday. Students gathered outside the School of International Studies (SIS) and raised red and saffron flags.
The JNUSU polls were held on September 11 and more than 53 per cent students polled votes. A total of 22 candidates were in fray for the Central Panel and 83 for the post of councillors.
While seven candidates from major students’ organisations were in the fray for the coveted presidential post, four candidates for the posts of vice-president, six and five nominees for general secretary and joint secretary respectively were contesting the polls. Safety on campus and better hostel facilities were among the key issues raised by the candidates of various students’ organisations. The issues also found their place in traditional JNU graffitis and handmade posters.
The parties contesting the elections include All India Students Association (AISA), All India Students Federation (AISF), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Students Federation of India (SFI), National Students Union of India (NSUI), Democratic Student’s Federation (DSF) and Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA).
