ABVP, NSUI claim increase in vote share this year

The ABVP and the NSUI claimed Sunday their vote share has increased over the years in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union election and they will continue their fight for the rights of students.

The remarks of both the parties came after a united front of four Left student groups Sunday won all four central panel posts in Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) election, by defeating the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) with huge margins.

The Left-backed All India Students' Association (AISA), Students' Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students' Federation (DSF) and All India Students' Federation (AISF) came together to form the 'United Left' alliance.

After the results were announced, the ABPV said it was the trust shown by students towards the party that forced the Left parties to forge an alliance.

"The ABVP will continue its fight against left violence. We are thankful to the students for making us the single largest student organisation on campus. We will continue to be a constructive opposition on JNU campus, and will keep fighting for students' rights.

"The biased act of the Election Commission in the JNUSU elections is against the democratic system of the university," they said.

The ABVP claimed that its vote share has increased over the years.

"The trust shown by students of JNU towards the ABVP forced all the Left parties to forge an alliance. The ABVP as a strong opposition will continue its work in student welfare, society welfare and nation welfare" they added.

A member of the Left bloc claimed that the vote share of the ABVP declined in science schools, which have been their strongholds traditionally.

"Usually, the ABVP candidate used to lead the Left candidate in the Science schools by a margin of 200-250 votes but on Saturday, they were leading by a slender margin of 30-40 votes.

"Students are seeing how the ABVP indulges in hooliganism and does not take up student issues," he said.

The Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) said they will continue their fight for the rights of students. Last year, their presidential candidate had only got 82 votes but their presidential candidate Vikas Yadav polled 402 votes this year.

Their candidates had even polled less votes than NOTA last year but this year the situation was different.

"We will continue our fight for students. We are fighting against the RSS. Our vote share has increased and the campus has given us acceptance. Our candidate Vishnu Prasad won the councillor's post in the School Of International Studies after 14 years, which is historic," said Sunny Mehta, NSUI coordinator at JNU.

Thalapelli Praveen, the presidential candidate of BAPSA (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association), who polled 675 votes, said their party would extend support to the elected students' union.

"BAPSA congratulates the left unity for winning the JNUSU Elections 2018-19. We extend our full cooperation to the elected students union to strengthen the students movement to defeat the Brahmanical and social fascism," he posted on Facebook.