Elections for the students union in the Central University of Gujarat saw all five candidates fielded by the ABVP, the student wing of the ruling BJP in the State, losing.
Three seats were won by Left-leaning student outfits and the NSUI, while one seat went to an independent candidate. All the five candidates fielded by the ABVP lost.
Elections for all five seats were held on Friday.
The Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association, the Students’ Federation of India and the Left Democratic Students Federation won one seat each and the NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, bagged one.
Of the eleven schools in the University, elections were held at five – the School of Languages, International Relations, Library Science, Environmental and Social Science.
Of the eleven schools in the University, elections were held at five – School of Languages, School of International Studies, School of Library and Information Science, School of Environment and Sustainable Development, and School of Social Sciences.
Following its drubbing at the hustings, the ABVP in a statement alleged that the University violated its own norms to help Left-leaning students win the election.
According to the ABVP, as per the rules, the varsity was supposed to keep classes closed during voting on January 22. However, the laboratory and other facilities were functioning, which prevented students from voting and taking part in the electoral process.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, ABVP State functionary Himalaya Singh Jhala also claimed that the ABVP had already won five seats uncontested in the Central University of Gujarat.
“Despite the continuous illegal interference by the Left faculty in the Central University of Gujarat, the ABVP has won five seats in the student council election,” he added.
“At the same time, the Left coalition and Congress student organisations [NSUI, SFI, DISF, BAPSA] contested jointly and the entire coalition was also able to find candidates for only six seats, while the ABVP contested 10 seats and won five” Mr. Jhala said, adding that the ABVP has representation from every Department in the Central University of Gujarat and has emerged as the single largest student organisation in the varsity.
