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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Standing Up For JNU

What Exactly Happened in JNU ?

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The alliance won all four office-bearer posts in the Union – President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary – by huge margins.

The victorious United Left candidates (from Right to Left): Geeta Kumari, Simone Zoya Khan, Duggirala Srikrishna and Shubhanshu Singh. Photos credit: Newsclick
 

The United Left has won a mammoth victory in the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) elections for the year 2017-18. The alliance won all four office-bearer posts in the Union – President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary – by huge margins.

The United Left, an alliance of three left-wing student organisations – All India Students Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), and Democratic Students Federation (DSF) – also won 13 councillor seats in the Union and a majority in the JNUSU Council.

Geeta Kumari from AISA won the President post by a majority of 464 votes, while Simone Zoya Khan from AISA won as Vice-President by 848 votes. Duggirala Srikrishna from SFI was elected as General Secretary by a margin of 1107 votes, and Shubhanshu Singh from DSF won the Joint Secretary post by a majority of 835 votes. The four winning candidates polled 1506, 1876, 2082 and 1755 votes respectively.
 

 Students celebrating the election victory of the United Left in JNUSU elections.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), came second in all four office-bearer posts.

The Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), which had come second in the President post in last year’s elections, suffered a setback as it was relegated to the third position in all four office-bearer posts.

The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) was faced with a major disappointment as its President candidate Aparajitha Raja finished fifth, behind the United Left, ABVP, BAPSA and independent candidate Md. Farooque Alam. Aparajitha Raja polled 416 votes. AISF candidate Kanhaiya Kumar had won the JNUSU President post narrowly – by 67 votes – in 2015-16, when the left vote splintered with SFI, AISA, DSF and AISF contesting separately.

The Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) suffered serious embarrassment and a severe loss of face as all four of its office-bearer candidates finished behind NOTA. NSUI’s President candidate polled 87 votes, while there were 127 NOTA votes for the post.

Polling was held on Friday, 8 September, and counting began the same night.

The first results to come out, as is usual, were those of the school councillor posts.

Independent candidates won as councillors in many of the science schools. The ABVP claimed that two independent candidates who won in the School of Life Sciences (SLS) were supported by them, while the Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) said that one councillor in the same school was supported by them. An independent candidate was elected unopposed in the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance (CSLG), while the ABVP candidate was elected unopposed in the Centre for Sanskrit Studies (CSS). An independent candidate won the sole councillor post in the School of Arts and Aesthetics (SAA).

The United Left swept the councillor posts in the bigger schools – the School of International Studies (SIS), the School of Social Sciences (SSS), and the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies (SLL&CS).

In SIS, the United Left won four out of five councillor posts, as the alliance candidates Marie Pegu, Aishe Ghosh, Sarthak Bhatia and Shashi Kant Tripathi came out victorious. The remaining councillor post was won by independent candidate Prahlad Kumar Singh.

In SSS, the United Left won four out of five councillor posts, with the alliance candidates Aejaz Ahmad Rather, Satish Chandra Yadav, Shreyasi Biswas and Sudhanya Pal winning. Chepal Sherpa of the Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students Organisation (BASO) won the remaining councillor post.

In SLL&CS, the alliance won all five councillor posts, as United Left candidates Aditi Chatterjee, Ghulam Qadeer, Parveen Sheikh, Raju Kumar and Swati Singh won comfortably.

Counting for the central panel (the office-bearer posts) began with the science schools and smaller schools. The ABVP has been traditionally stronger in the science schools, and polled the highest number of votes in these schools.

Counting for SIS began around the same time, and United Left candidates won large majorities in the school.

As complete results came in for the ‘combined schools’ (science schools and smaller schools) and SIS, the United Left was trailing behind ABVP by 25 votes in the President post. United Left candidates in the Vice-President and Joint Secretary had narrow overall leads of 19 and 9 each. Duggirala Srikrishna, the General Secretary candidate was, however, far ahead already with a lead of 283 votes. Srikrishna, the incumbent Convenor from SIS, and whose work in the Union in the past one year has been widely appreciated, won a whopping 483 votes out of 829 votes in his school.

As results from ‘Red Fort’ School of Social Sciences (SSS) started coming in, the United Left raced ahead. The ABVP’s President candidate managed to win only 127 out of 1270 votes in SSS, historically a stronghold of the Left. Results from the largest school SLL&CS – with 1469 polled votes – were the last to be declared, and the United Left candidates increased their majorities to finish well ahead of their opponents.

The ABVP has won a majority in the JNUSU only once – in 1996-97, when it won the Vice-President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary posts and a large number of councillor seats. It has won the President post only once, in 2000-01, when the ABVP candidate won by just one vote. The very next year, however, the SFI-AISF alliance swept the polls, with the ABVP being trounced in all seats by huge majorities (the SFI-AISF’s President candidate won by 589 votes, then a record).

Ever since then, the ABVP has managed to win a JNUSU office-bearer post only once, in 2015-16. But the ABVP has been on a back foot since then, having angered the students with its #ShutDownJNU campaign in February 2016 using doctored videos. The ABVP has also been left without answers to the questions raised by students this year, as the JNU administration – widely acknowledged to be backed by the RSS – cut nearly 1000 seats in the research programmes of the University.

Geeta Kumari is the fifth woman to become the President of the JNUSU.

Rashmi Doraiswami from SFI, elected in 1983-84, was the first woman President of the Union. Albeena Shakil, also from SFI, became the second woman President in 2001-02. Mona Das from AISA, who won two times in 2004-05 and 2005-06, and Sucheta De from AISA who won in 2011-12, were the third and fourth women Presidents of the JNUSU.

The 35-member JNUSU council consists of the Union office-bearers elected by all students in JNU, and 31 school councillors elected by students of the various schools in JNU.

The number of votes cast in the JNUSU elections came down from 5138 last year to 4620 this year due to the seat cuts that have been imposed on the University.

Republished from Newsclick with permission.

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लाइब्रेरी भवन के ठीक सामने। मैं जवाहर बुक स्टाल की तरफ जा रहा था। वह रास्ते में खड़े थे। मुझे इंगित कर कहा, 'तुम यहाँ क्या कर रहे हो?' मैने कहा, 'बाबा, मैं यूं ही आ गया, कैंपस का हालचाल जानने।' उन्होंने मुस्कराते हुए कहा, 'चलो कुछ समय यहां आकर हाल चाल जान लो, कुछ दिनों बाद यह सब तुम जैसों के लिए निषिद्ध क्षेत्र हो जायेगा!' मैने तनिक नाराजगी जाहिर करते हुए पूछा, 'यह कैसे बाबा? मैं तो यहां का पूर्व छात्र हूं, अपने विश्वविद्यालय में आने से मुझे भला कोई कैसे रोक सकता है?'

बाबा ने फिर मुस्कराते हुए कहा, 'यही तो मैं बता रहा हूँ, अब यह हम जैसों का विश्वविद्यालय बनने वाला है, तुम्हारा वाला खत्म हो जायेगा।' मैने प्रतिवाद करना चाहा, 'बाबा आपकी बातें मुझे समझ में नहीं आ रही हैं। क्या नया कुछ करेंगे यहा?' उन्होंने असल बात अब बताई, 'देखो दो-तीन साल बाद यहां एक देशभक्त किस्म का विश्वविद्यालय बनेगा। नाम कुछ भी हो सकता है: नेशनल विश्वविद्यालय या सावरकर विश्वविद्यालय या केशव विश्वविद्यालय या याज्ञवल्क्य विश्वविद्यालय या पतंजलि विश्वविद्यालय! इसके कुलपति, कुलाधिपति, अनुशासन अधिकारी और प्राचार्य आदि संत, सिद्ध बाबा, विद्वान योगी, श्रेष्ठ शास्त्र ज्ञाता होंगे। हर विषय की पढ़ाई होगी पर बिल्कुल द्रोणाचार्य के आश्रम जैसी पवित्र और शुद्ध प्राचीन पद्धति से।' उत्सुकता वश मैंने पूछा, 'इसका मतलब तब यहां आम घरों के छात्र नहीं पढ़ सकेंगे, सिर्फ कुछ ही वर्ण के लोग प्रवेश पा सकेंगे ?' मेरा यह सवाल सुनते ही बाबा गुस्से में आ गये:'सारी बातें अभी बता दूं तेरे को!' और यह कह कर बाबा अंतरध्यान हो गये। फिर मैं प्रशासनिक ब्लाक में गया तो देखा, वहां मौखिक परीक्षा(वाइवा) में 100 फीसद के प्रस्तावित प्रावधान के खिलाफ चारों तरफ पोस्टर लगे हैं। वीसी के आदेश पर कुछ लोग उन पोस्टरों को वहां से हटा रहे हैं। मेरा सपना टूट गया था। अब सचमुच JNU जाने की तैयारी कर रहा हूं। अपने विश्वविद्यालय का हालचाल जानने।

From the facebook of Urmilesh Urmil

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