New Delhi: Amid a flurry of red flags and striking of drums, Dhananjay raised a fist in the air and shouted: “Jai Bhim, Lal Salam”. He was joined by hundreds of students, their faces smeared with the colour red, echoing his cry as the University Election Committee declared the United Left Alliance victorious in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections.
“This win is for those farmers who are fighting for their MSP (minimum support price). This win is for Rohith Vemula. This win is a clear answer that despite their (ABVP and BJP) efforts to deter us, we have persisted,” said Dhananjay of the All India Students Association (AISA), his face smeared in gulal.
The United Left Alliance registered a thumping win in the JNUSU election, winning three of the four seats and defeating its nearest rival, the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA) won one seat with the support of the United Left.
Dhananjay got the JNUSU President post, securing 2,598 votes against ABVP’s presidential candidate Umesh C. Ajmeera, who secured 1,676 votes. For the post of vice-president, Avijit Ghosh from the Students Federation of India (SFI) defeated ABVP’s Deepika Sharma.
Dhananjay belongs to Gaya in Bihar and, according to the Left Alliance, is JNUSU’s second Dalit president after 27 years.
BAPSA candidate Priyanshi Arya won the post of general secretary after defeating ABVP’s Arjun Anand with the support of the Left alliance. Arya was supported by the United Left after the nomination of their candidate Swati Singh was cancelled on the day of voting. Singh sat on a hunger strike and called the cancellation an “attempt to deter (her) from standing in the polls”. In addition, Mohammad Sajid from the United Left’s All India Students’ Federation (AISF) won the post of joint secretary.
The elections, which took place after a hiatus of four years, started as an intense battle between ABVP and the United Left Alliance — consisting of AISA, SFI, AISF and Democratic Students Federation (DSF) — and later turned into a clean sweep for the latter.
Ahead of the student elections, the Central university witnessed changed political strategies with ABVP launching a tribal presidential candidate for the first time and using the mugshot of Ambedkar in their pamphlets.
As the victory of the United Left was announced, hundreds of students broke into slogans, danced and greeted each other. The winners — Dhananjay, Avijit, Mohd Sajid and Arya — got together for a press conference where they attacked the ABVP for allegedly “indulging in violence”.
“Our win is an answer to that,” said Dhananjay to cheers and whistles from students.
He also blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for maligning JNU and its students. “They (BJP) spread propaganda, they say that JNU students should be shot. You are making such films so that the voice of the suppressed and oppressed doesn’t go out from these (JNU) gates. That’s why you are circulating propaganda,” he said. “The Left Alliance’s victory is an answer from all students and youths across the country ahead of the 2024 elections.”
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‘JNU administration killing youths’ dreams’
Dhananjay also spoke about how students had to struggle to ensure that elections take place. “There were four people in this United Left panel, but one of our comrade Swati’s nominations was cancelled. We will fight for it,” he said.
Talking about the fund cuts, he said that the JNU administration was killing the dreams of the youth by reducing the seats.
“You (administration) did a fund cut, you have reduced the surplus seats. You have cut 80 percent of the funds in the library. Library is the soul of a university. The youth of this country dream of studying in JNU, but by doing seat cuts, you are killing their dreams. We will ensure that their dreams are not killed.”
Underlining the recent induction of professors, the new JNUSU president said, “It seems that the only criteria of hiring professors is that they have to be incompetent and a member of the RSS.”
He also spoke about incidents of sexual harassment and homophobic words being used on campus and said that he’ll ensure that such cases don’t go unheard.
Taking a swipe at the BJP government over the violence in Manipur, Dhananjay said, “We are seeing how the weak are being oppressed around the world and how this shameless government is not even talking to them. This (JNUSU win) is a mandate for the 2024 elections that the people of the country are going to dethrone you (BJP).”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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