JNUSU Elections 2017: Left rejoices on Twitter as Communists retain their dominance in stronghold

The United Left alliance on Sunday bagged all four positions in the JNU students’ union, while the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) stood second and third respectively.

Prior to the election, CPI (Marxist)-affiliated Students’ Federation of India (SFI), CPI-Marxist-Lenin (ML)-affiliated All India Students’ Association (AISA) and an independent left group Democratic Students’ Federation had formed a coalition.

In a close fight, United Left candidate Geeta Kumari won the president’s post by defeating Nidhi Tripathi of ABVP by 464 votes.

Shabana Ali of BAPSA (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association) polled 935 votes, election panel officials said. Out of the total 4639 votes polled, 4620 were valid as 19 votes were discarded after voters put their slips in wrong ballots, they said.

For vice-president’s post, AISA’s Simone Zoya Khan got 1,876 votes out of total 4,620 votes. Khan defeated Durgesh Kumar of ABVP who got 1028 votes.

Duggirala Srikrisha (Left) won on the General Secretary’s post by polling 2082 votes. He was followed by ABVP’s Nikunj Makwana- 975 votes. The post of Joint Secretary has gone to Shubhanshu Singh (Left) who got 1755 votes. Pankaj Keshari of ABVP got 920 votes.

With the results, Left groups maintained their hegemony intact in the campus known to be a bastion of communist parties.

However, rivals like the RSS-affiliated ABVP and BAPSA said they have made inroads into its vote share.

Saket Bahuguna, the ABVP’s national media convener, said that despite the victory of the Left alliance (AISA, SFI, DSF) in all four seats, the ABVP is now the single largest student organisation in JNU.

“Now, with more than 4,000 votes together on four central panel posts, the ABVP is the single largest student organisation in JNU. We also won 10 councillor seats, which is the highest for a single organisation. The ABVP swept almost all seats in the Science schools.”

Presidential candidate Tripathi said it was a huge moral victory for the RSS student wing. “Three parties had to come together to fight us, which shows that we have considerable strength.”

The supporters of BAPSA considered it a victory as they were able to increase the voter base as a single unit. BAPSA presidential candidate Shabana Ali said she was expecting more votes, but is satisfied with the numbers as the party has grown a strong base in the campus.

Social activists, politicians and former student leaders from JNU took to Twitter to congratulate the winners.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari

Red Salute to progressive forces on #JNUSU2017 win. Disappointed about NSUI.Had won JNUSU twice during my tenure as NSUI National Pres-90&91

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) September 10, 2017

Noted women’s rights activist Kavita Krishnan

Congratulations JNU students. The Left Unity panel of AISA-SFI-DSF is all set to sweep the JNUSU 2017 polls. ABVP left far behind.

— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) September 9, 2017

Former JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid

The JNUSU verdict is a tribute to Gauri Lankesh. She would've been very proud! https://t.co/5tSJ3k4I7Y

— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 10, 2017

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Pankhuri Pathak

Congrats to Left Unity on winning JNUSU polls.
Also congrats to BAPSA for putting up a great fight.
ABVP -Tum bhai fake news se Khush raho 😜

— Pankhuri Pathak पंखुड़ी पाठक پنکھڑی (@pankhuripathak) September 9, 2017

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury

Congratulations, JNU! #LalSalam #StudyAndStruggle https://t.co/jadhT0z0qF

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) September 10, 2017

AAP leader Alka Lamba

Congratulations & thanks to Students of Great #JNU Who have shown the door to Sanghies Students Wing or #ABVPgoons .#JNUSUelections

— Alka Lamba 🇮🇳 (@LambaAlka) September 10, 2017

  With inputs from agencies