IN the recently held elections to the University of Hyderabad Students’ Union, the Students’ Federation of India led alliance stood victorious by sweeping all office bearer posts along with the GSCASH panel with huge margins. These elections happened after three and a half years since the last held election in 2019.

In a context where the entire country is reeling under a regime of neoliberal and fascistic nexus, and where all democratic institutions are dismantled by the current BJP-led government, the victory of SFI-led alliance in HCU elections provides a spark of hope. The students of HCU supported this alliance wholeheartedly, which is also reflected in an average margin of 600 votes for all posts. SFI, ASA (Ambedkar Students' Association), and DSU(Dalit Students’ Union) came together and decided to defeat the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), the student wing of fascist RSS, to save campus democracy in HCU. This alliance stood for inclusivity which is reflected in the composition and representation of candidates from socially marginalised sections of OBC, SC,ST, and other minorities in the panel. In a historic manner, this panel has the first dalit queer person as students’ union president (Prajwal Gaikwad) and a first transwoman (Hritik Laxman Lalan) as GSCASH representative. This victory is also marked by electing the first woman general secretary (Kripa Maria George) in HCU with a record-breaking 2077 out of 3926 votes.

During the whole pandemic period, when all educational institutions were closed, the earlier students’ union 2019-20 led by the SFI alliance made sure that the campus remained open for those who wanted to stay despite the university administration trying to throw students out of campus citing various reasons. The earlier students’ union also strongly expressed its support for protests against CAA-NRC, the historic farmers’ protest in Delhi, against attacks on dalits and minorities, and also actively participated in various protests against the disastrous and anti-people policies of this current central government. Also, the SFI has consistently opposed the NEP 2020 and fought against the way the current government is trying to commercialise education as a profitable commodity. Through multiple campaigns, SFI-HCU successfully exposed the ruthless attacks on education through fund cuts to universities and education in general.  The relentless struggles and democratic functioning of earlier students’ union paved the path for this victory in the recent election.

This election was also fought in a context where the university administration in nexus with the ABVP tried to suppress and attack this panel in various ways. Though the SFI along with 10 other organisations requested the administration to postpone elections for another week to facilitate the participation of many first-year students in the elections as many of them took a semester break and went home, the administration did not heed and forced the elections on students to protect the interests of the ABVP. Because of this, many students were denied an opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

There was never an occasion where such huge amounts of money was pumped into universities for winning elections. ABVP has organised bus tours for new students and multiple DJ parties to garner votes in the election. The election commission has also become a mere tool of the administration to support the ABVP. ABVP also disrupted UGBM (University General Body Meeting) by openly displaying its nature of hooliganism on campuses. SFI activists were even attacked and hospitalised on the night of the polling day. ABVP has even violated the code of conduct in elections by holding rallies even before the election day. But the election commission acted in a biased manner and supported the ABVP in all these mentioned instances without taking any action on the complaints raised. SFI-HCU activists stood strong despite all these attacks and waged this political fight in a very democratic manner.

The election results show that the students are vigilant and will work in a responsible way to save education and the campuses from these fascist goons. SFI-HCU will work to ensure that the university campus remains progressive and will carry forward the struggles of comrades who sacrificed their lives for Independence, Democracy, and Socialism.