United Left, BAPSA Wins On All Four Seats In JNUSU Elections Despite ABVP Giving A Close Contest, Dalit Dhananjay Becomes President

As the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus buzzed with slogans and music, the results of the student union elections became clear.

The United Left panel, consisting of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the Democratic Students Federation (DSF), and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), secured three out of four posts, with the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) winning one post as per a report by The Hindu.

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) despite giving neck to neck fight while vote counting did not win any of the posts.

Dhananjay from the AISA won the president’s post, while Priyanshi Arya from BAPSA won the general secretary post, focusing on issues such as accessibility for students with disabilities and the rights of marginalised students.

Avijit Ghosh from the SFI won the vice-president post, aiming to address issues like hostel infrastructure and safety on campus. Md Sajid from the AISF won the joint secretary post.

Dhananjay also hold the distinction of being the first Dalit from Left to become JNUSU president and also first Dalit in 28 years to emerge as President since Batti Lal Bairwa, who won in 1996. Dhananjay is enrolled as a PhD student from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, and hails from Bihar's Gaya.

The ABVP, hoping to break the Left's stronghold, did not win any posts.

The election, held after a four-year hiatus, saw around 5,600 students voting, including many first-time voters.

Although Left has continued to maintain it's dominance in the JNUSU elections, many speculate that it would be tough for it to maintain this in coming years, given an aggressive and resurgent ABVP in the campus.

Many political commentators also speculate that it would have been tough for the Left to retain the seats had they not come together to form a united front against ABVP.