ABVP has denied any role in the attack, but alleged that counting was started without informing them.
New Delhi: After the high-voltage drama at Delhi University’s student union elections, the counting of votes for Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) Saturday also became chaotic. Around midnight, students of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) allegedly attacked the site where counting was being held. This forced the election committee to suspend counting for nearly 12 hours.
The ABVP has denied any role in the attack, but argued that counting had begun without informing them. At 5 pm, counting resumed again, after being suspended for more than 11 hours. If the results are not declared by tonight, the elections will stand cancelled, as per the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations for student elections across India.
JNU’s election committee released a statement early in the day saying it had suspended counting temporarily. “The counting process, which began at 10 pm on 14 September, has been suspended due to forced entry into the counting venue, and attempts to snatch sealed ballot boxes and papers,” a statement from the JNU Election Committee read.
In a separate statement, a group of JNU’s Left-wing student organisations including AISA, SFI, BAPSA and others said, “Around 4 am, ABVP (members) broke the glasses of the School of International Studies building. Election Committee stopped the counting indefinitely.”
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Shehla Rashid, former union vice-president, expressed outrage over the incident. “Shocked! Never seen something like this in JNU. ABVP goons broke glass doors and forcibly tried to enter the #JNUSU_Election2018 counting venue last night. They attacked the members of Election Committee and tried to snatch ballot boxes. Counting suspended,” she tweeted.
Shocked! Never seen something like this in JNU. ABVP goons broke glass doors and forcibly tried to enter the #JNUSU_Election2018 counting venue last night. They attacked the members of Election Committee and tried to snatch ballot boxes. Counting suspended.
Photos via @Mohit_JNU pic.twitter.com/77f1UewLqi
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 15, 2018
ABVP, however, denied the accusation. “We did not have any role in the ruckus, we were protesting peacefully. One can clearly see that EC (Election Committee) is biased towards the Left,” said Vijay Kumar, ABVP president for JNU.