Students Stand With JNU as ABVP Decimates

The students of Jawaharlal Nehru University gave a decisive electoral mandate decimating the right wing ABVP and giving all central panel seats to United Left alliance of AISA and SFI. The mandate is a blow to the Modi led government controlled by RSS and to ABVP who had orchestrated a vicious police crackdown on the varsity in the month of February.  The crackdown led to arrests of various student leaders including the union president Kanhaiya Kumar on the charges of sedition. The crackdown was met with massive student-teacher movement known as #StandWithJNU and creating a new discourse of resistance in the campus. The role of ABVP in the institution murder of Rohith Vemula and further state sponsored crackdowns on dissent led to the unity among left parties that put forwarded a strong contest against communal and Brahminical politics of ABVP.  BAPSA creating a subaltern discourse managed to mark its strength in the campus.

Mohit Kumar Pandey from AISA was elected as the new JNUSU President, defeating BAPSA Candidate Rahul Sonpimple by a margin of 409 votes. He secured 1954 votes.  Satarupa Chakraborty and Amal P.P. from SFI have been elected as new General Secretary and Vice President respectively.  Both of the SFI candidates have defeated rival candidates from ABVP by margin of more than 1000 votes.  AISA activist Tabrez Hasan won the post of Joint Secretary after securing 1670 votes. He defeated Pratim Ghosal from DSF by a margin of 362 votes.

The united Left Panel also won most of the councilor seats they contested. The three prominent schools which include Languages (SLS) , International Studies(SIS) and Social Sciences (SSS) were dominated by them as they won 14 out of 15 posts. Apart from it, they have also registered victory in School of Arts and Aesthetics.

Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA) has marked its presence in the 2016 JNUSU election. The students which claim to represent all the oppressed section of the society has secured second highest votes on the post of president. Rahul of BAPSA secured 1545 votes.

ABVP failed to win any seat despite it had one last year. They have lost ground even in the sciences which once use to be a stronghold of the group.  The Sangh brigade has secured only 1 councilor post in Sanskrit Studies. It clearly is a white wash of ABVP.

The beginning of winter semester in Jawaharlal Nehru University had witnessed unprecedented events including police crackdown and arrests of students, which snowballed into a massive student resistance for campus democracy and against state repression. The results show that the JNU Student Community has rejected the nefarious agenda of the Sangh and ABVP.