Left candidates win all four posts in Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union elections
Dhananjay of the All India Students’ Association is the first Dalit candidate to have won the presidency of the students’ union in over two decades.
The candidates from Left groups on Sunday swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union elections, with the United Left winning three posts and the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association emerging victorious on one seat, reported The Hindu.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad lost all seats. The organisation is the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s parent organisation: the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The voting was held on March 22. The elections were conducted after a gap of four years.
The United Left panel included the All India Students’ Association, the Students’ Federation of India, the Democratic Students Federation and the All India Students’ Federation, with each having lent one candidate for the four posts.
Dhananjay of the All India Students’ Association won the post of president by securing 2,598 votes, according to the results. Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi’s Umesh Chandra Ajmeera came in second for the post.
#WATCH | JNU Students' Union Election | Newly elected JNU President (Left’s) Dhananjay says, "This is a win for the students...The students have elected the Left against the fraud & funds being cut by the government..." pic.twitter.com/cFbL8T3o3p
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2024
“I’m overwhelmed at the support I have received,” the newly elected president said after the victory. “It has been made clear that the students are unhappy with the government, and they want things to change.”
Dhananjay, a native of Bihar’s Gaya district, is the first Dalit candidate to have won the presidency of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union in the past two decades. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at the university.
Avijit Ghosh from the Student Federation of India won the post of vice president after bagging 2,409 votes.
Mo Sajid from the All India Students Federation won the post of joint secretary with 2,574 votes.
Priyanshi Arya of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association, a Dalit who identifies as a queer woman, won the post of general secretary by getting 2,887 votes.
“Among the issues that I hope to address are accessibility in infrastructure for students with disabilities, dropouts among SC [Scheduled Castes], ST [Scheduled Tribes] students, reduction of weightage in the viva voce, and bringing GSCASH [Gender Sensitisation Against Sexual Harassment'] back,” said Arya, who comes from Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
The candidature of the United Left’s Swati Singh, who was contesting for the post of general secretary, was rejected on Friday, after which the Left urged the students to vote for Arya.
The Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association, however, said that Arya would have won with or without the support of the Left.