Campaign for election to the post of president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) ended at 3.30 a.m. on Thursday with the much-anticipated all-night presidential debate. The election is slated for September 9.
The All India Students’ Union and The Students’ Federation on India, teamed up in a show of left unity against what they call a “fascist threat” to the campus from the ABVP. The other parties in the fray are the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), debutant Students for Swaraj (student wing of the Swaraj Abhiyan) and Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA).
The debate that went on for five hours in three sessions brought to the fore a fierce ideological debate between not only between the united left and the ABVP regarding the future of the campus and the country, but also saw some strong arguments being put forth by the BAPSA candidate regarding the plight of SCs, STs and other minorities on the campus and outside.
The left was repeatedly attacked by the opposition for their sudden unity as they had been at loggerheads over various issues. The AISA was also attacked on their stand on gender justice as their own activist has been accused of raping a student on the campus a few weeks back.
BAPSA was questioned as to why they did not join protests at a tough time for the university when the February 9 protests were on.
Divided as they were on many issues, four of the parties were united in their attack on the ABVP.
The students who participated in the debate were, Deelip Kumar from Students for Swaraj, Jhanwi Ojha from ABVP, Mohit Kumar Pandey from AISA (United Left), Sonpimple Rahul Punaram from BAPSA and Sunny Dhiman from the NSUI.
Candidates were first given 12 minutes to speak. After this, they moved to a round in which the candidates could ask two questions to each other. In the final round, the candidates answered questions submitted by the audience.
