Headlines
ABVP makes comeback in JNU; AISF wins president's post
New Delhi, Sep 13
In a major boost to the BJP,
RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad made a comeback at
the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) after 14 years on Sunday by
winning the students union joint secretary's post.
The joint secretary's post was won by AVBP's Saurabh Sharma.
The ABVP had last won a post in the JNU elections in 2001 when Sandeep Mahapatra became the president by a vote's margin.
"I
am very happy that ABVP made a comeback in JNU after 14 years. I was
confidant about my victory as we were fighting on the student welfare
issues. I want to thank the students of JNU who showed confidence in me
and elected me as their joint secretary," newly-elected joint secretary
of JNUSU, Sharma told IANS.
"I also want to thank the JNU unit of ABVP volunteers," he added.
The
JNUSU president's post was won by the CPI-affiliated All India Students
Federation's (AISF) candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, while vice president and
general secretary's posts were retained by Left-leaning All India
Students Association (AISA). The seats were won by Shehla Rashid Shora
and Rama Naga, respectively.
Listing his priorities for the
campus, Sharma said that women security and construction of new hostels
would be on the top of his agenda.
"There are several places in
JNU which remain dark during night that causes a risk to the security of
female students here. I would try my level best to get street lights
fixed at these places and ensure women security in the campus in every
manner," he told IANS.
JNU poll's chief election commissioner
Praveen Thallapelli said, "The poll results were declared at 8 a.m.
today (Sunday). Since paper ballots are used for polling and counting is
done manually, the counting process takes longer at the JNU."
"The
voting percentage at the university is also relatively high. The ABVP
made a comeback at the JNU after almost 15 years," he said.
The
AISF won the president's post by 67 votes over AISA, while AISA nominee
won the vice-president's post against his ABVP rival by 234 votes. For
the general secretary's post, AISA candidate defeated ABVP nominee by
213 votes while joint secretary's post was claimed by ABVP, defeating
AISA by 28 votes.
Shehla Rashid of AISA is the first Kashmiri
woman in JNU history to contest the students' union polls and win in the
central panel. She is also this year's highest polled candidate
(1,387), according to JNU sources.
"This victory is a mandate for
carrying on the struggles for which JNUSU is known. We will carry on
the struggle for social justice, gender justice and against
privatisation and saffronisation of education," said Shehla after
winning the vice president's post.
"We are content with the
overall Left mandate, but we have to take cognizance of the
proliferation of the right-wing in the campus and work collectively
towards establishing a Left-progressive consciousness on the campus,"
she added.
The students' union elections in the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) on Friday recorded 53.3 percent turnout, a marginal dip
over last year, when the turnout was 54.58 percent.
A total of
22 candidates contested the JNUSU central panel that includes posts of
president, vice president, general secretary and joint secretary.