While the Left Alliance at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) celebrates its victory in the JNU Students’ Union elections, the ongoing protest by Swati Singh against the cancellation of her General Secretary nomination is still ongoing.
Swati Singh, President of Democratic Students' Federation, JNU, was to contest in the JNUSU elections for the post of general secretary before her nomination was cancelled hours before the polling began.
On the morning of Tuesday, March 26, just when the celebrations of Left alliance’s victory had subsided on campus, a protest was launched by Swati and her supporters at the University’s Dean of Students’ (DoS) office at 11 am.
Speaking about the protest, Swati told EdexLive “Right after my candidature was cancelled, I had written to the Dean of Students and the Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) explaining exactly why the cancellation is illegal and why I should be eligible to participate in the elections. Even after today’s protest, I am yet to receive any response from the DoS. My only demand is that they give a written statement explaining their stand on why they think I was ineligible for the elections.”
The newly elected JNUSU office bearers have also come forward in support of Swati Singh.
Today, on March 26, a letter was also issued to the DoS office undersigned by JNUSU leaders as well as student leaders from other left-backed student outfits at JNU, seeking renomination and reelection for the post of general secretary.
“We believe that the last-minute cancellation of candidature was unjust and done in a completely non-transparent manner,” the letter addressed to DoS reads.
JNUSU has also sought a meeting with the JNU Vice-Chancellor Prof Santishree D Pandit to discuss the issue.
Swati Singh further added that she would take a legal route if the university authorities do not address her concerns.
As per reports, Swati's cancellation came after a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Vikas Patel wrote to the dean of students pointing out that Singh had been rusticated from the university last year after allegedly manhandling female security guards on campus.
Swati has denied the allegations made by the right student outfit saying that she was targeted for holding protests on campus.
Swati’s nomination was replaced by Priyanshi Arya from the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) who emerged victorious for the General Secretary post with 2,887 votes in JNUSU polls.
