Left groups join hands against ABVP in JNU student elections

Left parties are putting up a united face against the Akhil Bharati Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the upcoming JNU students’ union election.

Left parties are putting up a united face against the Akhil Bharati Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the upcoming JNU students’ union election.

The All India Students’ Association and Students’ Federation of India are forming an alliance called ‘Left Unity’. The All India Students Federation, to which former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar belongs, will offer internal support to the AISA-SFI alliance. (Hindustan Times)

The All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) are forming an alliance called ‘Left Unity’.

The All India Students Federation (AISF), to which former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar belongs, will offer internal support to the AISA-SFI alliance.

On Thursday, the names of the final candidates were announced.

From “Left Unity”, AISA’s Mohit Kumar Pandey will contest for the post of president, while SFI’s Amal PP will stand for vice-president.

The main agenda for “Left Unity” will be to preserve the democratic space in universities. “The government has been attacking universities across country. The attack on JNU, Hyderabad University and Rohit Vemula’s issue will dominate the elections,” said Mohit.

The last few months were turbulent for the JNUSU, with the university being embroiled in a debate on sedition after an event was held on campus.

It was alleged that anti-national slogans were raised at the event, after which three students, including Kanhaiya Kumar were arrested. The students were recently granted regular bail by a Delhi Court.

Read: JNU Students’ Union polls on September 9, nominations from August 30

The Students Front for Swaraj (SFS), the student wing of AAP’s breakaway group Swaraj Abhiyan, has also fielded its presidential candidate for the first time.

Polls will be held on September 9 and counting of votes will begin the same night. The presidential debate will be held on September 7.

Last year, the AISF opened its account in the JNUSU polls, winning the president’s post, while the ABVP bagged one of four central panel slots after a gap of 14 years.

Meanwhile, the list of candidates for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections were also announced. There are 27 candidates for the president’s post, while there are 19 names for the vice-presidents’ posts, said a DU official.