According to the reports, the voter turnout of 73% is highest in the last 12 years. The elections were conducted in two phases and were delayed due to some logistical arrangements.
After hiatus of four years, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections were conducted quite smoothly and with verve on Friday. Though both left and ABVP are keeping their fingers closed for the results, they are still claiming the victory.
According to the reports, the voter turnout of 73% is highest in the last 12 years. The elections were conducted in two phases and were delayed due to some logistical arrangements. Over 7,700 voters exercise their franchise and showed their zeal for the student elections.
The counting of votes is underway and the result will be out on Sunday. The Sunday Guardian closely covered the entire poll fray and is now highlighting some significant developments about the elections and how candidates went all out for the campaigning and connecting with the students.
Taking inspiration from the regular Indian political strategy for the polls, parties ended up playing Dalit card, Tribal card, Naxalite-victim card and woman card to woo their voters. In the same line, the United Left has fielded Dhananjay Kumar, a Dalit face, for the presidential post, while the ABVP has fielded a tribal face, Umesh Ajmeera, for it. The main competition this time is between the Left and ABVP, where both are banking on the caste equation as well as university issues. Additionally, the Left organizations, which generally raise international and national issues, are also raising JNU-centric issues this time to counter ABVPs’ university-centric issues.
In the JNUSU elections this time, key issues were women’s safety, new hostels, transforming the health center into a hospital, increasing the scholarship amount, and increasing opportunities for students from the Dalit community. These were some of the promises made by the candidates in the debate for the presidency of the JNUSU. On the night of March 20, candidates from different student organizations were seen debating on various social and political issues. The JNUSU elections were last held in 2019. Since then, elections have not been held due to the Corona pandemic.
The campus has witnessed euphoria from both campaigners and the students as the place was echoed with slogans of Jai Shri Ram, Laal Salam, and Jai Bheem. Every organization is looking to capitalize by raising issues concerning their ideologies.
The Sunday Guardian also spoke with students from JNU and found that ABVP claimed that if voted to power, they will bring Ram Rajya and eliminate anti-national forces from the campus, while left-wing organizations claimed that they will stop the university from saffronization and hooliganism of ABVP. The Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA), Chhatra Rashtriya Janata Dal (CRJD), and the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha were indeed participating in the JNUSU elections, each with their own unique agendas and perspectives. BAPSA contested for the posts of president and general secretary. BAPSA has been known to focus on issues related to marginalized communities and social justice. The Chhatra RJD (CRJD), the student wing of the Rashtriya Janata Dala, contested for the posts of president and vice president.
Traditionally, RJD is a party that advocates social justice and equality, and its student wing also worked on the same ideology. The Samajwadi Chatra Sabha’s presidential candidate, the only female contender for the post, is from Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district and aims to fight patriarchy and become the voice of the downtrodden on campus.
Speaking about his journey to the Presidential Post, Umesh says, “My father was a victim of the Naxalite attacks when I was still a child, and my mother was forced to abandon her religion. She died within a few days, unable to cope with the trauma. I came in contact with ABVP when I joined JNU for higher education. They welcomed me and made me their own. Moreover, when the JNU Students’ Union election notification arrived, they announced me as their presidential candidate in their Central Panel. I strive to meet the expectations of ABVP in all the ways possible and am taking forward ABVP’s positive work to every single student of the institution.”