“For us women leaders, the win is exhilarating. As women we have to work doubly harder to prove that we can work as hard, be as responsible, especially as political beings. This election was a first in so many ways because across the board women candidates fought. We won.” : Geeta Kumari AISA.
Geeta Kumari and Simone Zoya Khan are two women leaders of the coherent and strong JNU Students Union (JNUSU). The first, Geeta Kumari hails from Panipat is the latest firebrand President of the JNUSU, from AISA, having won by a majority of 464 votes. A graduate from JNU itself in 2011 she studied at the Army School Allahabad. The second is Simone Zoya Khan, also from AISA, who won as Vice-President by 848 votes. Geeta Kumari is the fifth woman president of the JNUSU.
Geeta Kumari is today, tired and determined. Specialising in Modern History for her post graduation, she says she will work day and nights to fulfil her responsibility.
Speaking to Sabrangindia in an exclusive interview this evening, she says:
Your biggest challenge in the JNU of today?
“Our biggest collective challenge is to fight back the encroachment on democratic spaces by this Vice Chancellor (Jagadesh Kumar) who represents the worst policies of the Modi government. He has tried to curtail student representation, violated decisions of the Academic Council and the stay order given by the Court, insisted that dhabas close at 11 p.m., put a restrictions on protests..despite that we won!!! A United Panel of the Left won all seats. This is a huge vindication of the struggle.”
“We will work to make the administration accountable. The CBI and agencies answerable for the gross slips and lacunae in Najeeb’s disappearance.”
As a Woman Leader what does this mean for Women?
“For us women leaders, the win is exhilarating. As women we have to work doubly harder to prove that we can work as hard, be as responsible especially as political beings. This election was a first in so many ways because across the board women candidates were fielded and contested.. We won. “
[[Aparajitha Raja of AISF finished fifth with 416 votes]
Is there a sense of fear and intimidation ?
“I have been an activist for six years now. There is no fear as such but some concerns, will we be able to communicate with the Vice Chancellor? The fear is only a concern for the success of the struggle. We leave no stone unturned to get the anti-student, anti-democratic policies of the administration and government overturned.”
Message on the Protest Meeting on Journalist Gauri Lankesh’s Murder
Gauri Lankesh was an inspiration to us all. We have dedicated the United Left win at JNUSU to her. She was our friend. She recognised that the student leaders were the real opposition today. We upheld her legacy to this campaign. We salute her.”
Background
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.
Today
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.
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.
The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) was faced with a major disappointment as its President candidate 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).