Rift in NSUI's JNU unit

A rift is brewing within the JNU unit of the Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) with two sides accusing each other of indulging in "anti-party activities".

It all started after NSUI JNU in-charge Sunny Mehta suspended four members for alleged "anti-party" activities and indiscipline during the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) election.

The four suspended members are Mritunjay Singh Yadav, Surendra Bhaderwal, Manish Meena, and Sunny Dhiman.

"The four members elicited support for BAPSA (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association) and Jayant Kumar, who was the presidential candidate for the Chhatra Rashtriya Janta Dal, which made its debut this year.

"Mehta was appointed as the JNU unit chief a few months ago and under him the party saw a substantial increase in its vote share. Had these members not sought votes for opposition, the gains could have been higher," said an office-bearer of the NSUI.

Meanwhile, one of the suspended members, Mrityunjay Singh Yadav accused Mehta of siding with the ABVP.

"I am not even a member of the NSUI. I am just a sympathiser. I worked hard during the elections. Sunny Mehta chose the presidential candidate Vikas Yadav without following the due process and then struck a deal with the ABVP," Yadav claimed.

He said Mehta sought the ABVP's help in eliciting support for Vikas Yadav and, in turn, assured them of help in winning the posts of vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary.

"We are anti-RSS and did not campaign for Vikas Yadav but we campaigned for other candidates. However, we did not indulge in campaigning for presidential candidates of other parties," he said.

Ruchi Gupta, national in-charge of NSUI, said she has called both the parties for a hearing on September 18.

"Members can be expelled from NSUI only after hearing by in-charge and national president. I have called both the parties for a hearing and will listen to their sides," she said.

Gupta also said the party saw a considerable rise in vote share but lost out due to Left and right polarisation in the JNU campus.

NSUI's presidential candidate Vikas Yadav polled 402 votes. Lijy K Babu, its vice-president candidate, polled 457 votes.

Md Mofizul Alam, who contested for the post of secretary, polled 328 votes, while Ngurang Reena, who contested for the post of joint secretary, polled 772 votes.

Last year, the NSUI had polled even lesser votes than NOTA (none of the above) with their presidential candidate only managing 82 votes.

A united front of Left student groups Sunday won all four central panel posts in the union defeating the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) by considerable margins.