HYDERABAD: In a closely fought battle for the University of Hyderabad Students Union (UOH-SU), the Alliance for Social Justice (ASJ) that stood for Left-Dalit-Muslim unity swept the polls defeating the BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad supported by OBC forum.
ASJ presidential candidate Sreerag P, a PhD scholar Regional studies, polled 1,509 votes against K Palsania of ABVP and Anju Rao of Congress-affiliated NSUI who secured 1,349 and 872 votes respectively. A total of 3,846 votes were polled the election.
Meanwhile, in a late night development, the university informed that results for the vice-president’s post will be declared later. An official release said that though Lunavath Naresh of ASJ has secured 1,885 votes against Apoorv Jain of ABVP-OBCF who secured 1,624 votes, the position has not been declared due to technical reason (grievance pending with the Grievance Committee). Results were reportedly delayed as certain student groups questioned the validity of Lunavath Naresh's candidature alleging that he lacks attendance.
The ASJ comprised Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Students Association(ASA), Dalit Students Union (DSU), Tribal Students Forum (TSF), Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV) and Muslim Students Federation (MSF). The polling which took place on Thursday witnessed 75 percent voter turnout.
With 1984 votes, ASJ's Arif Ahammed clinched the general secretary post, while Kiran Kumar secured 1573 votes.
For the joint secretary post, Muhammed Ashique polled 1872 votes while Pooja Rani secured 1591 votes.
It was a close fight between G Abhishek and Aarti Nagpal for the post of cultural secretary. The former won with a narrow margin of 85 votes, by securing 1792 votes.
The sports secretary's post was won by Shravan Kumar against Rupesh Ranjan by a margin of 406 votes with the ASJ candidate securing 1913 against 1507 by the ABVP candidate.
For the two posts in Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GS-CASH), ASJ candidates Charu Nivedah secured 878 votes and Tinanjali Dam got 482 votes.
This year the election witnessed 75 percent voter turnout.
Last year, the Student Union elections were held eight months after the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the ASA had contested with National Students Union of India (NSUI) against SFI-led left alliance United Front for Social Justice (UFSJ) and ABVP. The UFSJ had won all the posts. Also, ABVP hasn’t won president post since 2009.
Vote share
President
ASJ - 1509
ABVP - 1348
NSUI - 872
NOTA - 92
Invalid - 2
Vice President
ASJ - 1884
ABVP - 1624
NOTA - 284
Invalid - 54
General Secretary
ASJ - 1984
ABVP - 1573
NOTA - 249
Invalid - 49
Joint Secretary
ASJ - 1872
ABVP - 1591
NOTA - 295
Invalid - 85
Cultural Secretary
ASJ - 1792
ABVP - 1707
NOTA - 251
Invalid - 91
Sports Secretary
ASJ - 1917
ABVP - 1511
NOTA - 316
Invalid - 101
GS-CASH (PG)
ASJ - 878
ABVP - 836
GS-CASH (integrated studies)
ABVP - 270
ASJ - 482
Timeline
2012: SFI won president, general secretary, vice president, joint secretary post. ABVP won sports secretary and cultural secretary. President post was won by a margin of 21 votes.
2013: SFI won president, general secretary and joint secretary posts. President post was won by a margin of 5 votes. United Democratic Alliance (UDA: Ambedkar Students Association, Bahujan Students Front and NSUI) won vice-president post while the ABVP won cultural and sports secretary post.
2014: United Democratic Alliance (UDA) won president and general and cultural secretary. President post won by a margin of 200 votes. ABVP bagged joint secretary and sports secretary posts. SFI won vice-president post.
2015: An alliance of SFI, Tribal Students Forum (TSF), Dalit Students’ Union (DSU) and Telangana Vidhyarthi Vedika (TVV) swept the polls.
2016: SFI led United Front of Social Justice (UFSJ) alliance won all post. President post won by a margin of 52 votes.