NEW DELHI: The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and other Leftist student organisations of Jawaharlal Nehu University (JNU) have claimed that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and the university administration are colluding amongst themselves to manipulate the process of the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections. They alleged that the authority was holding meetings behind closed doors with the student wing of the BJP to disrupt the student polls.
While no reaction came from the JNU administration, the ABVP rejected the allegations, instead accusing the Left organisations of diverting the attention of students. The ABVP claimed that the incumbent Left-led students’ union had undermined the democratic environment of the university.
The Leftist organisation issued a statement stating that the administration deployed the ABVP goons to disrupt the school-level general body meetings (GBM) to stall the election process.
“After having been defeated by the sustained struggles for JNUSU Elections 2023-24, the JNU administration was forced to notify the Election Committee (EC) elected by the school-level GBMs. The administration deployed goons of ABVP to disrupt the school-level GBMs to stall the election process. The students of JNU rose unitedly against the delay tactics of the administration and the violence of ABVP to defeat their pernicious ploys,” said an SFI leader on Monday.
The SFI also levelled grave allegations against the ABVP and the university administration, saying, “In their desperate attempts to stop the elections, the ABVP goons have occupied the Dean of Students Office (DoS) and are creating a ruckus inside the DoS to give them a pretext to stall the election process. ABVP goons are deployed time and again by the administration to create terror among students and undermine their struggles.”
“We appeal to the students of JNU to stand united in defence of the autonomy of the student-elected EC, JNUSU constitution and our right to elect an Union. The ploys of ABVP and the administration will stand defeated in the face of students committed to upholding campus democracy,” said SFI leader Anagha.
Age relaxation plea: HC doen’t allow student to contest
The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant interim relief to a student who sought permission to file his nomination and participate in the JNUSU election till his petition to increase the maximum age to contest the poll is decided. Justice Sachin Datta noted that the last date to file nominations was over and the election process has already begun. Petitioner Sudhanshu Shekhar had challenged the decision of the JNU V-C rejecting his representation to enhance the maximum age to contest the student election by two years, as a one-time measure in view of the fact that the election was not conducted for more than four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
