JNU Students Union Elects its 1st Dalit President, Left Routs ABVP

New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) elected its first Dalit president from the Left-backed groups on Sunday.

The United Left panel made a clean sweep in the JNUSU election, defeating the RSS-affiliated ABVP candidates in the students’ union polls held after a hiatus of four years, Dhananjay from Bihar’s Gaya, as the candidate of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) won the JNUSU president’s post by securing 2,598 votes against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) Umesh C Ajmeera who secured 1,676 votes.

Dhananjay is the first Dalit president from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa, who was elected in 1996-97.

Avijit Ghosh from the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) defeated ABVP’s Deepika Sharma by 927 votes to win the vice-president’s post.

Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) candidate Priyanshi Arya, who was supported by the Left, won the general secretary post’s by defeating ABVP’s Arjun Anand by 926 votes.

The Left’s Mohammad Sajid won the joint secretary’s post by defeating ABVP’s Govind Dangi by 508 votes.

The JNUSU polls on Friday witnessed a voter turnout of 73 per cent, highest in the last 12 years.