The AISA-SFI combine on Saturday evening won all four posts in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) election, with the final results expected late at night.
Mohit Pandey is the new president of JNUSU, Amal P.P. is the vice-president, Tabrez Hasan is the joint secretary and the Shantarupa Chakraborty is the general secretary.
The BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) were far behind in all four posts, the sources said.
The SFI, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), and the AISA, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI(ML)), formed an alliance to fight the elections.
This was the first student election in the campus since the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar — of the CPI-backed All India Students Federation — on charges of sedition after a group of students allegedly raised anti-India slogans at an event in February.
AISF is not contesting the polls this time.
The campus, which has been Left-dominated over the years, saw RSS’ student wing ABVP securing a seat in 2015, making a comeback in the JNU after a gap of 14 years.
However, the contest in 2016 is majorly triangular with BAPSA being in the fray with its presidential candidate Rahul Sonpimple being a show-stealer at the presidential debate.
For the first time, AISA, and the SFI have formed an alliance for JNUSU polls, naming it “Left Unity“.
Students Front for Swaraj (SFS), the student wing of AAP’s breakaway group Swaraj Abhiyan, is making its debut this year by fielding its candidates for the four crucial central panel posts in the varsity.
Other organistations which have fielded their candidates in the JNU polls include Congress’ National Students Union of India and besides the DSF.
JNUSU is the representative body of the students in the university. While the polling has coincided with that for that DUSU polls for the fourth consecutive year, the poll pattern at JNU differs from that of Delhi University.
Besides the routine campaigning, the candidates in JNU are also supposed to make speeches about their agenda followed by a round of questions at the presidential debate.
The night-long event, conducted in the style of U.S. Presidential debate, is a sought after affair and also a deciding factor for the union elections.
Rohith Vemula’s suicide, sedition row, nationalism debate and B R Ambedkar’s legacy were the highlights of this year’s debate.
Unlike in the DU, ballot papers are used in the JNUSU polls. Students also have the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option.
