The student union election at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) saw the Left-led coalition known as Left Unity emerge victorious once again, reaffirming its stronghold on the politics of the campus.
Left Unity, which consists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Association (AISA), and the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), secured all major posts in the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) — namely the President, Vice President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) failed to secure any central position in the JNUSU, losing the grounds it made in thr JNUSU elections last year.
Meet the winners
Aditi Mishra, a third-year PhD scholar at the Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory and the presidential candidate from Left Unity, won with 1,747 votes, defeating the ABVP's Vikas Patel, who received 1,385 votes, reports National Herald.
K Gopika of the Left Front was elected vice president with an overwhelming lead of 1,117 votes — 2,774 to the ABVP's Tanya Kumari's 1,657.
Sunil Yadav of the Left narrowly defeated Rajeshwar Kant Dubey of the ABVP for the position of general secretary by 38 votes.
Danish Ali of the Left won the joint secretary position with 1,854 votes, while Anuj Damara of the ABVP received 1,693.
Mishra pushed for accessibility, university democracy, and institutional integrity. She criticised the ABVP for allegedly receiving corporate funding and accused the right-wing of opposing reservation policies.
Vikas Patel, an ABVP student organiser for over a decade, focused his campaign on transparency and accountability, citing charges of inadequate infrastructure maintenance and financial opacity in the university administration.
According to the JNUSU Election Committee, voter turnout was 67 per cent, somewhat lower than the 70 per cent recorded last year. Voting took place on November 4 in two phases: from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm and from 2.30 pm to 5.00 pm. Vote counting began at 9:00 pm on November 5 and ended late today, November 6.
