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JNU Students' Union Elections: United Left Panel Sweeps All Four Seats, Defeating ABVP

Candidates from four major left organisations won the central panel seats in the students' union election.
Supporters of left organisations celebrate in JNU after the results were announced on Sunday.
HuffPost India
Supporters of left organisations celebrate in JNU after the results were announced on Sunday.

The united left panel won all four students' union seats in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) elections on Sunday after a counting process that had been interrupted by threats of violence.

The president's post was won by N. Sai Balaji of the All India Students' Association (AISA) with 2,161 votes. Balaji defeated Lalit Pandey of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) by 1,179 votes.

Sarika Chaudhary of the Democratic Students' Federation won the vice-president's post with 2,692 votes, defeating ABVP's Geetasri Boruah by 1,680 votes.

Students' Federation of India's Aejaz Ahmad Rather is the new JNUSU general secretary with 2,423 votes. Rather's closest rival Ganesh Gurjar (ABVP) had got 1,123 votes.

Amutha Jayadeep of the All India Student's Federation won the joint secretary's post with 2,047 votes, defeating ABVP's Venkat Choubey by 800 votes.

Counting of votes was suspended for more than 14 hours on Saturday, after ABVP members allegedly entered the counting centre and tried to snatch ballot papers. An ABVP office bearer, however, accused the Election Committee of "rigging the election" in favour of Left parties.

In a statement on Saturday, 12 students' organisations from JNU condemned the violence:

"The ABVP's acts constitute a serious violation of the election process. The ABVP by indulging in violence has not only disrupted the counting process, but also sought to undermine the sanctity of the student EC whose decision is abided by all organisations."

Elections in JNU are conducted by the students themselves unlike other universities, where the administration runs the process.

More than 5,000 students cast their votes in the election on Friday.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.