New Delhi: The Left Unity clinched Tuesday all the four top posts in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students’ union polls here. The results were declared late in the evening after the Delhi High Court permitted the varsity to declare the results.
After the counting, Aishe Ghosh of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) was elected as president. She defeated Manish Jangid of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) by a margin of 1,175 votes.
The Left parties including All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and All India Students’ Federation (AISF) contested the polls together. A notification by the election panel said that the Left Unity of student organisations – AISA, SFI, AISF, DSF – have won all the four central panel posts – president, vice-president, secretary, and joint secretary in the polls.
AISA’s Satish Chandra Yadav emerged victorious for the post of general secretary with 2,518 votes. DSF’s Saket Moon secured the post of vice- president with 3,365 votes, while AISF’s Mohd Danish emerged as the winner as joint secretary securing 3295 votes. The polls were conducted September 6.
The announcement of the results of JNUSU was stayed by the High Court after petitions were filed by JNU students Anshuman Dubey and Amit Kumar Dwivedi. One of the grievances raised by a petitioner was that the election commission of the university has reduced the number of councillor seats from 55 to 46.
Getting better facilities and more hostels for students, and thwarting any attempt to silence democratic bodies are on the agenda of the newly-elected JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU).
Newly-elected president Aishe Ghosh said one of the major issues on the agenda is more hostels for students. “We will also work to have a barrier free and differently-able friendly campus,” Aishe Ghosh, who hails from Durgapur in West Bengal and is a member of the SFI, said.
Meanwhile DSF’s Saket Moon said the agenda is going to be two-fold – raising campus issues and thwarting any attempt to silence democratic bodies.
There have been budget cuts, which have led to a slash in library funds, poor ambience in hostels, lack of facilities in classrooms and poor condition of labs that are functioning with old instruments, claimed Saket Moon.
“The administration is trying to scuttle voices and trying to silence democratic bodies like the academic council. They did away with the gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment (GSCASH) and brought in an internal complaints committee which punishes complainants,” Saket Moon said.
AISA’s Satish Chandra Yadav, who was elected as the general secretary said, “There are forces inside the campus that want to end democratic voices and silence dissent. There is a need to save the students’ union from such forces and we will fight against them.”
The voter turnout JNUSU election held Friday was 67.9 per cent, believed to be the highest in seven years. Over 5,700 students cast their votes.
Agencies