JNU remains red with saffron wave still at bay, almost

NEW DELHI: That JNU is still deep red was reaffirmed in the latest students' union polls, when the AISA-DSF combine grabbed three keys post, with a fourth going to the ABVP.

Nitish Kumar, Manisha, and Munteha Fatima secured the three key central panel positions of President, Vice-President, and General Secretary, reminding the sceptics that the JNU campus remains a bulwark of Leftism where the mighty saffron wave comes to break.

A breach, however, was formed when a resurgent ABVP took the Joint Secretary post after a nine-year hiatus. CPI-ML-backed AISA's Nitish Kumar won the presidential race with 1,702 votes, comfortably defeating ABVP's Shikha Swaraj, who garnered 1,430 votes, and SFI-supported Tayabba Ahmed, who received 918 votes.

Nitish, hailing from an OBC family in Sheikhpura, Bihar, has been a vocal advocate for underprivileged students and their access to quality education. His leadership chops became apparent in the 'Reopen JNU' movement in 2021, which called for the resumption of offline classes and the reopening of hostels.

His victory is seen as a mandate against the government's education policies, which the Left argues are discriminatory and exclusionary. DSF's Manisha won the Vice-President's post with 1,150 votes, narrowly surpassing ABVP's Nittu Goutham, who received 1,116 votes .

Manisha represents the resilience of first-generation Dalit scholars who have fought against systemic oppression to access education. Manisha secured a place in the PhD programme at the Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies. She champions a more inclusive campus, where marginalised communities can thrive free from caste and class-based discrimination.

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ABVP secures Joint Secretary post after 9 years

DSF's Munteha Fatima, elected General Secretary with 1,520 votes, defeated her closest rival ABVP's Kunal Rai, who garnered 1,406 votes. An OBC Muslim from Patna, Munteha has been a powerful voice against "communal fascism" and the marginalisation of Muslims and women. She wants to resist the rise of right-wing politics and the fight for "justice and equality."

ABVP, a right wing outfit, managed to secure the Joint Secretary post after a nine-year gap, with candidate Vaibhav Meena winning by a narrow margin of just 85 votes over AISA's Naresh Kumar. Though not much, the win is not lost on the Left, which acknowledged the ABVP's rising influence in campus politics.

This year's elections saw a split in the traditional United Left alliance, with AISA and DSF joining forces, while SFI allied with AISF, BAPSA, and PSA . The ABVP contested solo. The Students' Federation of India called for the need for greater unity among progressive forces to challenge the growing influence of ABVP.

SFI in a statement emphasised that a fragmented Left contributed to ABVP's success in winning the Joint Secretary post. SFI, however, found success in various council positions, winning seats in the School of Languages, School of Arts and Aesthetics, School of Biotechnology, and School of Physical Sciences. Despite the setback in the central panel, SFI remains committed to opposing the government's New Education Policy (NEP) and the privatisation of education.