JNUSU Polls: Counting Suspended After ABVP Tries to Snatch Away Ballot Boxes

Counting for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) elections was suspended by the Election Committee (EC) late Friday night shortly after ABVP members’ attempted to snatch away the sealed ballot boxes. The ABVP members even physically attacked the EC members and indulged in vandalism, said a joint statement issued by 12  student organisations in JNU.

At the time of writing this report, an all-organisaton meeting was underway to ensure the smooth progress of the procedure. Counting is yet to resume.

The EC on Saturday morning put up a statement saying  "the JNUSU counting process, which had began yesterday (September 14, 2018) at 10 p.m has been suspended due to forcibly entering into the counting venue and attempt to snatch away the sealed ballot boxes as well as ballot papers from our counting centres.”

“This was in addition to intimidation and violence on our Election Committee, including on our female members led by a Presidential and a Joint Secretary candidate," the EC statement added.

Following the students union election in the campus, the counting had started on Friday night. The initial trends showed a lead for  the United Left alliance consisting of All India Student’s Association (AISA), Democratic Student Federation (DSF), Student Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Federation (AISF).

However, trouble began after the results for the post of councillors from the combined schools--science schools and small schools-- were out,  with candidates backed by the United Left alliance bagging the posts, defeating the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated ABVP, which always had an upper hand in these schools. In the School of Life Sciences, Left-backed candidates bagged all the three councilor posts. While in the School of Computer and System Sciences, independent candidates won all the three councilor seats.

The attempt to snatch the ballot boxes took place when counting was about to begin for the central panel votes from the combined school.  After repeated announcements, ABVP failed to send their counting agents and “long after sealed ballot boxes were opened and counting began, ABVP demanded that its agents be allowed in, and resorted to violence,” said the joint statement issued by student organisations, such as AISA, SFI, DSF, BAPSA, NSUI, AISF and others.

As per the existing rules and norms, after the counting begins, nobody except EC members are allowed  inside the counting booth. Though the United Left had followed the same during the counting for the School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies since they have failed to produce their counting agent within the allotted time, ABVP refused  to abide by the rules.

”ABVP members such as Saurabh Sharma, Raghavendra Mishra, Akhilesh Pathak and some ABVP candidates like Lalit Pandey (ABVP Presidential candidate) and Venkat Choubey (ABVP Joint Secretary Candidate) entered the SIS-I building, broke glasses of doors and barged into the rooms were counting was taking place. After this, they laid siege to the rooms and prevented anybody from entering or leaving the rooms. They even tried to capture the ballots, which the EC managed to prevent. They manhandled and injured some EC members,” the joint statement added.

The joint statement termed the ABVP’s act as a “serious violation” of the election process, and a bid to “undermine the sanctity of the student EC whose decisions are abided by all organisations”, and unitedly urged  ABVP members-- Saurabh Sharma, Raghavendra Mishra, Akhilesh Pathak and others -- to vacate the counting venue immediately to allow the election process to continue.