THE students of Jawaharlal Nehru University gave a decisive mandate to the United Left Panel of SFI-AISA-DSF in the recently concluded student union elections. This victory comes after a year of relentless struggles by the outgoing union led by SFI and AISA. The ABVP finished a distant second on all the four posts. The ABVP couldn’t even manage to win a single councilor post on its own. The United Left (AISA-SFI-DSF) won all four central panel seats and 13 councilor posts across SSS, SIS and SLL and CS. Geeta Kumari and Simone Zoya Khan of AISA were elected as president and vice-president respectively, Duggirala Srikrishna of SFI was elected as the general secretary and Subhanshu Singh of DSF as joint secretary of the students’ union.

This mandate has been delivered at a time when JNU and the larger student community across the country is facing an unprecedented attack. Higher education and research is being finished off through massive seat cuts, fee hikes and curtailment of scholarships. Legally mandated reservations and hard-won deprivation points are being systematically removed. The decision to cut research seats in JNU was not an ‘academic decision’ of the UGC. It was in fact a political project defended in court by top BJP lawyers (former ABVP DUSU president and BJP candidate in 2003 Delhi legislative assembly elections Monica Arora as well as Modi’s and Shah’s handpicked lawyer Tushar Mehta). ABVP’s national media convener Saket Bahuguna in fact spilt the beans in an interview on September 8, when he suggested that research cuts were part of the ABVP’s electoral strategy. He suggested that PhD students become “brainwashed” by the Left ideology and seat cut has ensured that there are fewer MPhil/PhD students this year while they are more chances that new students joining this year will vote for ABVP (Indian Express, September 9). The ABVP has arrogantly dismissed the agency of the JNU student community and this verdict is a fitting rebuff to ABVP’s game plan.

The SFI since the very beginning was very clear that the unity of all Left and progressive forces in the campus is the only way forward not only electorally but also in struggles so as to fight back the serious challenge put forth by administration-ABVP combine. In the same context, alliance talks went on till the nominations and finally the SFI, AISA and DSF put forth a United Left Panel. The alliance which got a decisive mandate by the students is aware of the immediate tasks and challenges as the attack of RSS continues unabated.

The victory of United Left Panel is to reassert the inclusive, democratic and egalitarian essence of JNU.

The students of JNU have given a befitting rebuff to the ABVP by electing the United Left. Even after all the efforts of the state machinery, ABVP was defeated. This is not merely a defeat of ABVP this is a message to RSS and this administration that the students have decisively rejected the conspirators of the ‘Shutdown JNU’ and shown their steadfast commitment to the idea of JNU which is essentially inclusive, democratic and egalitarian in nature which is an outcome of the struggles of erstwhile JNUSU’s led by the Left.

The newly elected JNUSU is faced with many challenges. The first and foremost is to reverse seat cut and restore constitutionally guaranteed reservation policy, reclaim JNU’s inclusive deprivation points. Secondly to ensure Justice for Najeeb, a Masters first year Biotechnology student who mysteriously disappeared following an assault by ABVP goons. Thirdly, ensuring autonomy and sanctity of JNU’s democratic decision making bodies from partisan subversion by the VC. Lastly but most importantly to build sustained and militant struggles for building new hostels, increasing fellowships, autonomy of GSCASH and to ensure social justice and gender justice in campus.

The strength of SFI has grown in leaps and bounds over the years which was reflected in last year’s result as well as this year in which SFI’s candidate (general secretary) secured the maximum number of votes in the panel. This is the result of the relentless struggles and hard work of scores of activists who have taken forward SFI’s politics of ‘Study and Struggle’ among the students.