United Left Panel Sweeps JNUSU Polls, Gets First Dalit President After Nearly 3 Decades

JNUSU Polls: AISA's Dhananjay won the post of JNUSU president while SFI's Avijit Ghosh was elected as vice-president and BAPSA's Priyanshi Arya clinched the post of general secretary.

JNUSU Polls: The United Left panel made a clean sweep in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) election on Sunday defeating its nearest rival the RSS-affiliated ABVP. 

The university also got its first Dalit president after nearly three decades in the elections that were conducted after a hiatus of four years. 

Dhananjay from the All India Students' Association won the post of the JNUSU president by securing 2,598 votes against Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Umesh C Ajmeera who got 1,676 votes, according to a PTI report. 

Dhananjay, a native of Gaya, Bihar is the first Dalit president from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa in 1996-97. 

Slogans of "Lal Salaam" and "Jai Bhim" echoed on the campus as the supporters hailed the winning students and also waved red, white, and blue flags to celebrate the victory of their candidate. 

Avijit Ghosh from the Students' Federation of India (SFI) clinched the vice-president's post by securing 2,409 votes against ABVP's Deepika Sharma who received 1,482 votes. 

Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA) also gained a seat in the central panel after its candidate Priyanshi Arya, who was supported by the Left, won the post of general secretary by defeating ABVP's Arjun Anand by 926 votes. 

Arya maintained a lead by getting 2,887 votes while Anand received 1961 votes. 

The BAPSA candidate received the support of the United Left after the nomination of its candidate, Swati Singh was challenged by the ABVP and canceled by the Election Commission. 

The Left's Mohammad Sajid won the post of joint secretary by defeating ABVP's Govind Dangi by 508 votes.

The latest result maintained the JNU's reputation of being a Left bastion. The ABVP was in a close contest and was leading on all four central panel posts in the initial trends, according to the PTI report. 

The United Left panel includes the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF).

The polls for the JNUSU were conducted on Friday which recorded a voter turnout of 73 per cent highest in the last 12 years, the report added. 

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