United Left records landslide victory in JNU Students Union (JNUSU) elections 2018-19

The United Left alliance of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Association (AISA), All India Students Federation (AISF), and Democratic Students Federation (DSF) has won the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) Elections 2018-19 by some of the highest ever margins in JNU's history. (Full results further below.)

The ABVP, which has been trying, hand-in-glove with the RSS-backed administration, to destroy the University, and which indulged in brazen violence during the election process in an attempt to stall it, has been resoundingly defeated.

N Sai Balaji, who has been elected President, won by a lead of 1179 votes. 

Aejaz Ahmad Rather, who has been elected General Secretary, won with a lead of 1300 votes. 

Sarika Chaudhary, who has been elected Vice-President, won by a margin of 1680 votes – the highest ever in any post in JNU's history. 

Amutha Jayadeep, elected Joint Secretary, won by a margin of 800 votes.

This is also the first time in history that all four winning office-bearer candidates have polled more than 2000 votes.

The full results for the office-bearer posts are as follows:

President

N Sai Balaji (United Left (SFI-AISA-AISF-DSF)) - 2161
Lalit Pandey (ABVP) - 982
Thallapelli Praveen (BAPSA) - 675
Jayant Kumar (Chhatra RJD) - 540
Vikas Yadav (NSUI) - 402
NOTA - 128
Saib Bilaval (Independent) - 125
Nidhi Mishra (Savarna Chhatra Morcha) - 59
Invalid - 45
Jahnu Kumar Heer (Independent) - 32
Blank - 21
 

Vice-President

Sarika Chaudhary (United Left (SFI-AISA-AISF-DSF)) - 2692
Geetasri Boruah (ABVP) - 1012
Purnachandra Naik (BAPSA) - 644
Lijy K Babu (NSUI) - 457
NOTA - 288
Blank - 45
Invalid - 32
 

General Secretary

Aejaz Ahmad Rather (United Left (SFI-AISA-AISF-DSF)) - 2423
Ganesh Gurjar (ABVP) - 1123
Vishwambhar Nath Prajapati (BAPSA) - 827
NOTA - 388
Md Mofizul Alam (NSUI) - 328
Blank - 49
Invalid - 32

Joint Secretary

Amutha Jayadeep (United Left (SFI-AISA-AISF-DSF)) - 2047
Venkat Choubey (ABVP) - 1247
Ngurang Reena (NSUI) - 772
Kanaklata Yadav (BAPSA) - 689
NOTA - 344
Blank - 47
Invalid - 24







A total of 5170 votes were polled, out of a total of 7644 eligible voters. The polling percentage of 67.63 was sharply higher than the 59.34% polling in 2016-17 and 58.01% in 2017-18.
 
The United Left alliance also won 19 councillor seats out a total of 29 councillor seats this time – including all 5 councillor seats in the School of Social Sciences (SSS), all 5 councillor seats in the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies (SLL&CS), 4 councillor seats in the School of International Studies (SIS), the sole councillor post in the School of Physical Sciences (SPS), three councillor posts in the School of Life Sciences (SLS), and one councillor post in the School of Computer and Systems Sciences (SC&SS).

Thus the United Left will have 23 seats (4 office-bearers and 19 councillors) in the 33-member JNUSU Council 2018-19.

The students took out a massive victory procession after the final results were announced.

Amutha Jayadeep, Sarika Chaudhary, Aejaz Ahmad Rather, and N Sai Balaji
after the declaration of JNUSU Elections 2018-19 results.

Condemn ABVP's Hooliganism at the JNUSU Presidential Debate 2018-19!

SFI strongly condemns the ABVP's act of turning Wednesday night's Presidential Debate, held as part of the JNU Students Union election process, into a site of outright violence and misogyny. 

The politics of hooliganism by ABVP reached another level altogether yesterday. ABVP resorted to relentless shouting and beating of drums when Comrade N Sai Balaji, the United Left's president candidate, began to speak. The Election Committee (EC) had to stop Balaji thrice in between his speech to control the ABVP crowd. ABVP very evidently had come prepared to not let Comrade Balaji speak. The ABVP went berserk and very evidently most of them were not even students of JNU.

The goons of the ABVP were continuously pushing women comrades, the male cadres of ABVP were shamelessly manhandling. When Comrade Satarupa of SFI, also a former JNUSU General Secretary, was trying to video-record this violence, Vikas Patel of ABVP snatched her phone away. They then began severely manhandling and abusing her. Goons like Abhijit Dwivedi were trying to slap women comrades present there.

Seeing that, Comrade Abraham of SFI went to help Satarupa and she was then surrounded by about 10 ABVP men. She was molested and manhandled by Vikas Patel, Ankit Roy, Abhijit Dwivedi, Shivam Chaurasia et al.

The most shameful thing was the role of ABVP's women activists. They were siding by those men who were molesting our comrades openly at the venue of the Presidential debate. Comrade Abraham's phone too was then snatched away. Even after repeated appeals and complaint to EC, the ABVP goons refused to give her phone back.

The ABVP cadres shouted "Jaise hum DU mein tum logon ko marte hein, waise hi JNU mein bhi marenge". Precisely what their agenda was for yesterday. They were prepared for violence, they were prepared to disrupt the Presidential debate. Comrade Abraham  has now filed a complaint with Vasant Kunj police and is yet to receive her phone.

The incidents that unravelled yesterday are extremely alarming. It is part of a game plan of the RSS-ABVP to disrupt the JNUSU elections knowing their politics of hate have no ground here. This is not what JNU is. This is not what JNU will be. It is high time that these goons are crushed and thrown into the dustbin of history.

Sd/-
Vikas Bhadauria, President, SFI Delhi State Committee
Prashant Mukherjee, Secretary, SFI Delhi State Committee