JNUSU poll results: Decoding Left alliance's win and ABVP's gain

The Left alliance of the All-India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) beat the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to bag the three top posts of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) central panel – president, vice-president and general secretary. The results were declared late Sunday night (April 27).

However, a split Left vote saw the ABVP emerge victorious in the post of joint secretary, winning a central panel seat for the first time since 2015.

Also read: Left maintains JNUSU foothold; ABVP breaks 9-yr drought, clinches joint secy post

Polling for JNUSU elections was held on April 25, but unlike in the last many years, the Left forces were fractured. The AISA, affiliated with the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist (Liberation) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI), affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), fought against each other. While AISA tied up with DSF, a splinter group of the SFI, the SFI contested in alliance with the All India Students' Federation (AISF) – the student wing of the Communist Party of India, the Ambedkarite group Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA), and the Progressive Students' Association (PSA).

The winners

Nitish Kumar from AISA secured 1,702 votes to win the post of president, defeating Shikha Swaraj of ABVP who got 1,430 votes. SFI’s Tayabba Ahmed was third with 918 votes. The DSF managed to bag two posts in the central panel for the first time since it came into existence in 2012. Manisha won the post of vice president by getting 1,150 votes, and Munteha Fatima polled 1,520 votes for the post of general secretary.

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ABVP’s Vaibhav Meena secured 1,518 votes for joint secretary, defeating his AISA rival by just 85 votes.

So, what explains the JNUSU results? Was this the first time the Left organisations fought separately?

Historically, JNU has been a Left bastion, with various organisations contesting against each other. The SFI dominated the JNU Students’ Union until 2012. From 2008 to 2011, elections weren’t held in the university since students refused to abide by the Lyngdoh Committee regulations. After 2012, once the polls resumed, AISA emerged as the largest Left organisation. Until 2015, the Left groups continued to be each other's main rivals. However, in 2015, Saurabh Sharma from the ABVP won as joint secretary, soon after which JNU was rocked by “sedition” controversy in February 2016. Three students – Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya – were arrested and scores of students faced disciplinary action by JNU authorities. After this, all Left groups decided to contest together to keep the ABVP out of power. While no elections were held for four years due to the Covid pandemic, in last year’s elections, all four Left groups put up a united front. AISA, SFI and AISF were able to win their seats as president, vice-president and joint secretary, respectively, however, the DSF lost the general secretary post to BAPSA.

Why did Left unity break this time?

While there has been a war of words between AISA and SFI through pamphlets on the question of ‘fascism’ (the CPI(M) has stated in its political resolution that the BJP government at the Centre was displaying “neo-fascist characteristics” as opposed to the CPI(ML)-Liberation which has called it fascist) in the run-up to the elections, sources on both sides said the fallout was on local issues.

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AISA sources told The Federal that the state leadership of both parties (CPI(M) and CPI(ML) Liberation) wanted their student wings to ally, and talks were on until the last moment of filing nominations. SFI sources also confirmed the same, stating that ultimately, both JNU units could not come to a consensus.

Among other things, neither AISA nor SFI was willing to budge on fighting the president’s post, both believing they had the stronger organisation and the stronger candidate.

“The SFI also clearly stated that they would not ally with the DSF. We wanted the broadest possible Left unity, but they did not budge, instead choosing to ally with BAPSA and PSA behind our back,” a source from AISA told The Federal.

SFI, on the other hand, said the formation of both alliances was due to last year’s experience. “There was only one meeting of the Coordination Committee of all Left organisations, which has been the practice for many years. There was a constant refusal to have a dialogue with other organisations. Since DSF was not in the union last year, they did not have this experience and were okay allying with AISA. But the alliance of the other three groups was a continuation of this experience,” sources said.

Why was one Left preferred over the other?

Since JNU has been a Left stronghold, it was natural for students to vote based on who they thought was the stronger Left force, to keep the ABVP at bay. A PhD student of the School of Social Sciences said an appeal had gone to all Left organisations to unite, but once it was clear that would not happen, calculations were made and through discussions among her group, it was decided that the vote would be cast for AISA-DSF. In that sense, that was a more natural alliance as opposed to the SFI and AISF allying with BAPSA.

In JNU, the Ambedkarite organisation has always pitted itself against Left forces as well as the ABVP. The decision of Ramniwas Gurjar to contest as part of the SFI-led alliance for general secretary ultimately led to his expulsion by his organisation, and BAPSA supporters splitting into two camps. While he refuted allegations that he didn't have the support of his organisation, the results tell a different story.

“Ultimately, students were not convinced by this (SFI-BAPSA) alliance and they decided in all their wisdom to back the stronger horse. That was a tested alliance since the Left has always contested together,” sources said.

ABVP gained, but why couldn’t it win?

While the ABVP won the joint secretary post by 85 votes, it emerged second in all remaining posts. It also managed to win over 20 Councillor seats in JNU’s various Schools, including the School of Social Sciences, where it won two seats after 25 years. Despite this, it could not win the elections. That is because of the university’s long political history.

“Left might have been split, but students of the campus were united. They were clear that they did not want the ABVP to win, and the results indicate that clearly,” JNUSU president Nitish told The Federal.

JNUSU Joint Secretary Meena said the ABVP’s victory was “historic”, but if they had worked harder, they could have won three if not all posts. He, however, rejected the notion that JNU students were against the right wing. Sources said the ABVP suffered due to infighting.

What next?

While the Left fought the elections separately, it would be interesting to see if the cracks deepen or repair. At its end, the ABVP is clear on its goal. “We will focus on campus issues first that don’t need funds or administrative interference. However, we will also ensure that Kanhaiya Kumar-type incidents are not repeated. There is no dichotomy between our will to serve students and our nationalist agenda,” Meena told The Federal.

With the ABVP back in power, former JNUSU office-bearers from Left parties have sounded caution over indulging in a blame game. Former JNUSU President Geeta Kumari, who had won from AISA in 2017, said it was “easier to blame SFI” than “introspect” about ABVP’s gains.

“After lockdown, none of the organisations left + bapsa cared enough to meet students without an agenda or parcha in their hand. Nobody was at school gates in the morning and nobody at dhaba in the evening. The process of depoliticisation began from there and students stopped relating to the left eventually. Central panel is mostly a binary election because of the high stakes and campaign's central focus. But councillors actually shows what is your actual reach among the students (sic),” she said in a Facebook post.

Satarupa Chakraborty, who was elected JNUSU general secretary in 2016 from SFI congratulated AISA but said it is “a must to keep a close watch on them (ABVP) as well as to not allow any room to them to attack the university and its students, teachers and staff”.

“What happened in this election needs a deep analysis and the entire Left needs to introspect and be accountable for what unfolded, rather than putting the burden on one organisation and singling it out,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

It would seem that, despite the differences, the current Union also understands the importance of unity. “If we want to save the campus from fascist forces, all Left and progressive forces will need to come together,” said JNUSU Vice-President Manisha.

JNUSU President Nitish also echoed: “We will work together. The Left has made this campus what it is, and we will continue that unity in the union and in our struggles.”