JNUSU polls: Left bags three seats, ABVP ends decade-long draught

After weeks of feverish campaigning, the much-anticipated Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) elections concluded early on Monday with the Left alliance winning three of four central panel seats.

- Varun Bhandari

NEW DELHI: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ended a decade-long drought by clinching one seat.

The Left alliance of the All-India Students' Association (AISA) and Democratic Students' Front (DSF) dominated the central panel. Nitish Kumar (AISA) won the presidential post with 1,702 votes, defeating ABVP's Shikha Swaraj who secured 1,430 votes. Manisha (DSF) won the vice-president post with 1,150 votes, narrowly edging out ABVP's Nittu Goutham, who polled 1,116 votes. Munteha Fatima (DSF) claimed the general secretary's post with 1,520 votes against ABVP's Kunal Rai, who received 1,406.

Meanwhile, ABVP breached the Left's "ideological moat" by winning the joint secretary post through Vaibhav Meena—its first central panel victory since Saurabh Sharma's win in 2015.

In the elections for 42 councillor seats, which were held alongside the central panel polls, the ABVP claimed to have won 23, including seats where independent candidates allegedly supported them.