ABVP, Left parties trade charges after violence stops vote count in JNUSU polls

Left parties accused the ABVP of resorting to violence after losing councillor seats.

Left parties and the ABVP traded charges on Saturday over the stoppage of counting of votes in the JNU students’ union elections which were held on Friday.

Members of the different student unions shout slogans in support of their candidates during Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students union elections, at the JNU campus, in New Delhi, India, on Friday, September 14, 2018. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)

The Election Committee issued a statement without naming any party but said that the forcible entry by some persons into the counting venue and attempt to snatch away the sealed ballot boxes as well as ballot papers from counting centres, forced it to stop the counting.

“This was in addition to intimidation and violence on our Election Committee, including on our female members led by a Presidential and a Joint Secretary candidate,” the statement said.

Left parties accused the ABVP of resorting to violence after losing councillor seats.

“Around 4 am, ABVP members broke the glasses of the SIS (School of International Studies) building. EC stopped the counting indefinitely. The EC has demanded an unconditional apology from ABVP as EC members have been injured badly. ABVP has jammed the counting booths. It is important to note that this happened just after ABVP losing all councillor seats (except one) in science schools,” teh Let parties said in a statement.

The ABVP in turn accused the election Committee and the Left parties of colluding and conspiring during the counting of votes.

“The ABVP agent was kept away during the first round of counting. The EC and the Left parties have conspired to stop the counting... We will not accept such an election,” said Saurabh Sharma, member of ABVP’s central working committee.