New Delhi: Left candidates from across the political spectrum bagged three of the four central panel posts in the JNUSU election to maintain their foothold in the premier university while the RSS-affiliated ABVP ended a nine-year phase out of office to win the post of joint secretary, reported PTI..
According to the results announced by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) election commission early on Monday, April 28, Nitish Kumar of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) secured 1,702 votes to win the post of president. Next was Shikha Swaraj of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), his closest competitor who secured 1,430 votes while the Students’ Federation of India (SFI)-supported Tayabba Ahmed polled 918 votes.
Manisha of the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) won the post of vice-president by securing 1,150 votes, ahead of the ABVP’s Nittu Goutham who polled 1,116 votes. The DSF also bagged the general secretary’s post, with Munteha Fatima polling 1,520 votes, ahead of the ABVP’s Kunal Rai who secured 1,406 votes.
What has drawn much comment, analysis and criticism is the ABVP’s clinching the post of joint secretary, with Vaibhav Meena polling 1,518 votes, ahead of AISA’s Naresh Kumar (1,433 votes) and Progressive Students’ Association (PSA) candidate Nigam Kumari (1,256 votes).
This year’s election saw a contentious split in the Left alliance, with the AISA and the DSF contesting as one bloc while the SFI and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) formed a coalition with the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) and the PSA.
In the midst of this the majoritarian saffron outfit to whom much violence has been attributed on campus ABVP struck gold. Meena’s win marked the first time the ABVP has bagged a central panel post since Saurav Sharma’s victory on the same post in 2015-16. Before that it was in 2000-01 that ABVP’s Sandeep Mahapatra had emerged victorious as president. The ABVP contested the election independently in 2025.
In the March 2024 polls, held after a four-year gap following the outbreak of Covid, the United Left won three of the four central panel posts while BAPSA — which had contested independently — secured one. In that sense, losing a critical post to the ABVP is a matter of concern.
While welcoming and celebrating the victory of its alliance on three central panel posts, AISA also raised concerns over the ABVP’s narrow win for the post of joint secretary and called it a challenge to the Left’s dominance on campus.
Given the low margin of just 85 votes that took the ABVP to victory winning the post of joint secretary, clearly this absence of unity made an impact. Over the past decade and more there has been a serious structural assault on the institution and allegations of corruption in the admission process to ensure BJP loyalists make it to faculty positions and this then, acts as a foothold for the ruling regime on campus. Given that, the fact that the Left has returned to its leadership position in the JNUSU is significant said the AISA said in a statement.
AISA also termed this as the alliance’s victory a mandate against the government’s New Education Policy which, it said, undermined public-funded education and discriminated against marginalised groups.
On the contrary, the ABVP called its victory “a historic shift in JNU’s political landscape” and said it broke the Left’s “so-called red fortress”.
“This victory in JNU is not only proof of the ABVP’s proactive hard work and students’ faith and commitment to nationalist thinking but it is also a victory for all students who consider education as the foundation for nation-rebuilding. This is a democratic revolution against the so-called ideological tyranny established by the Left for years in JNU,” the ABVP said in a statement.
Meena, the newly-elected joint secretary, said, “I am not at all considering this victory as my personal achievement or gain but it’s a massive and fascinating victory of tribal consciousness and the nationalist ideology, which has been suppressed by the Left for years.” “This success is an embodiment of students who want to advance in education by wholeheartedly upholding cultural identity and the spirit of nation re-building,” he added.
The polls, held on April 25, witnessed about 5,500 of the 7,906 eligible students casting their votes. While the turnout was slightly lower than the 73 per cent recorded in 2023, it was among the highest since 2012.
Twenty-nine candidates were in the fray for the four central panel posts and 200 for the 44 councillor seats.
A former student activist from JNU, Banojyotsana Lahiri put it aptly: “JNU elections unlike popular perception are never easy. The administration has systematically closed down every democratic space, they have altered the character of JNU, introduced courses like Management and Engineering, changed the process of selection. Since 2016, after the movement, JNU students had forged a broader unity to fight the ABVP-Admin-RSS nexus. While that was the need of hour at that point, it gave ABVP the whole opposition space to occupy. After 2016, for the first time, the broader left alliance broke this time. AISA-DSF fought separately, SFI-BAPSA-PSA fought separately. Other Left organisations put up candidates too. There was quite a bit of confusion among students. Votes obviously split. And after bitter and resolute struggle finally, AISA and DSF alliance WON three major Central Panel posts and most councillors. ABVP only managed to make dent in Joint Secretary, because of sharp vote splitting between the left forces.” In her opinion now SFI will occupy the opposition space.
There has however been speculation of whether the SFI’s decision not to unite with the wider left has anything to do with a tempered and confused central party line that is not prepared to unite against the RSS-BJP centrally and unequivocally.
Satarupra, a CPI-M member and former SFI elected leader of JNUSU opined, “Whatever ABVP gained in this election must be analysed thoroughly. Those of us who worked in a JNUSU with similar composition in the central panel posts, and the students, teachers of JNU who survived one of the most notorious attacks of the Sangh Parivaar, exactly 10 years back, knows it well what they are capable of. From the lessons of that time, it is a must to keep a close watch on them as well as to not allow any room to them to attack the university and its students, teachers and staff. In 2015, the Left contested separately and had a fragmented mandate in the union. Despite that, after the election results were declared, instead of a ‘Victory March’, we had a ‘Unity March’. The exemplary unity with #StandwithJNU movement followed later. However, the sheer fact of ABVP won one post in the central panel was enough for the progressive forces to forge a unity from the very beginning. I hope that tradition will continue in the days ahead in spirit and actions. Lastly, what happened in this election needs a deep analysis and the entire Left needs to introspect and be accountable for what unfolded, rather than putting the burden on one organization and singling it out.”
Kavitra Krishnan formerly with the CPIML has singled out the SFI for its failure to forge unity against fascist forces. As have other academics previously from JNU.
Either way one looks at it, the JNUSU polls are closely watched and do signal a weathercock for how the left works and strategies, nationally. With both the West Bengal and Kerala elections due in 2026, this could mean a different reality from what has been expected under the rather fragile, almost non-existent INDIA alliance.
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