JNUSU Polls 2018: It’s All Red as Left Unity Sweeps All Four Seats
The Left Unity won all four major posts in JNUSU elections 2018 – President, Vice-President, Gen Secy and Jt Secy.
Left Unity swept the JNUSU elections on Sunday, 16 September, with N Sai Balaji elected as the President, Sarika Chaudhary as the Vice President, Aejaz Ahmed Rather as the General Secretary and Amutha Jayadeep as the Joint Secretary.
Earlier on 15 September, the counting was halted after members of the ABVP allegedly attacked members of the Election Committee and attempted to snatch away sealed ballot boxes and ballot papers from within the vote counting centre, the Committee members said.
Over 5,000 students cast their votes in the JNUSU election on Friday.
- JNUSU elections recorded their highest voter percentage in six years, at 67 percent
- Twelve organisations issued a joint statement against ABVP after the attack
- Denying the attack, ABVP claimed that their members were the ones being targeted
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2018 JNUSU Elections Record Highest Voter Turnout in Six Years
The voter turnout in the keenly contested Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) election on Friday, 14 September, was 67.8 percent, believed to be the highest in six years.
Over 5,000 students cast their votes. The counting has begun and the results are expected to be announced on Sunday, 16 September.
ABVP Members 'Attack' Vote Counting Centre
Counting of votes in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union elections on 14 September were halted after members of the ABVP reportedly entered the vote counting area in the early hours of 15 September, attacked members of the Election Committee and attempted to snatch away sealed ballot boxes and ballot papers, Himanshu Kulshreshtha, the Election Committee’s Chairperson said.
The EC has demanded an unconditional apology from ABVP as members of the EC have been injured badly.
Twelve Organisations Issue Statement Demanding Removal of ABVP Members from Counting Centre
The AISA, DSF, BAPSA, SFI, CRJD, AISF, NSUI, SIO, YFDA, BASO, MSF, and Collective issued a joint statement against the attack by members of the ABVP.
"Late night on Friday, the EC made announcements calling for candidates to send their counting agents for central panel votes from the combined schools (science schools and smaller schools). ABVP did not send counting agents even after the last call was made. Long after sealed ballot boxes were opened and counting began, ABVP demanded that its agents be allowed in, and resorted to violence.”
“But ABVP refused to follow rules that are applicable to everyone. They broke the door of SIS-I building where counting is happening, and the barricades in front. They manhandled the guards on duty, snatched phones from people who were video recording and also assaulted some of the journalists who were present there.”
“We, the undersigned organisations, demand: That the ABVP members – Saurabh Sharma, Raghavendra Mishra, Akhilesh Pathak and others – vacate the counting venue immediately to allow the election process to continue.”
Read the full statement here.
ABVP’s Denies Attack, Alleges Rigging by Election Committee
Denying the attack on the Election Committee, ABVP alleged that the body was “involved in rigging election in favour of Left organizations.”
Here is the full text of ABVP’s statement:
“ABVP expresses deep concerns over the way the counting is being conducted for JNUSU election. The Election Committee formed for JNUSU election 2018-19 is involved in rigging election in favour of Left organizations.
ABVP firmly believes that transparency of the electoral process has been compromised. The Rule 5(b) of Part 3 of Appendix 1 of JNUSU Constitution has been violated by the EC. EC is guilty of breaking the seal of ballot box and starting the counting of Central Panel votes without the presence of counting agents of the candidates or candidate affiliated to ABVP. The rule requires that the candidate or their counting agent must see every paper ballot. This action by EC is illegal. When the objection was registered by ABVP, workers of Left organizations started manhandling ABVP counting agents. Most of the Left organization workers are not even the students of JNU. They stormed into the counting complex and started with violence and abusive sloganeering. Even the EC members joined them in manhandling the proposed counting agents of ABVP.
The election process for JNUSU requires the designation of counting agent for each candidate for each School on the posts of Central Panel. Even yesterday, a specific call was made to one of the candidates in School of Arts and Aesthetics to send his polling agent. However, in case of counting for Central Panel for Science School, the minimum number of calls were not made to ABVP’s Lalit Pandey, Geetasri Boruah, Ganesh Gurjar and Venkat Choubey. Further no specific call was made to any of them. This compromises sanctity of electoral process as per the JNUSU Constitution. This is a basic norm of a democratic process and its denial leads to breach of the credibility of the electoral process.
President of ABVP-JNU Unit Vijay Kumar said “Counting of votes is being done without adhering to the rules. EC is not following even the bear minimum requirements of election procedure. The biased way of handling elections has put a question mark on EC’s neutrality. We have approached the Grievance Redressal Cell to seek justice. We will not hesitate to proceed to Delhi High Court if we don't get justice."
National General Secretary of ABVP Ashish Chauhan said, “Students of JNU have laid faith in ABVP. They have voted for ABVP to bring about a positive change. The biased handling of elections by the EC won’t stop us. We will keep fighting till justice is served.”
Left Unity Leading After Counting of 250 Ballots
The Left Unity is leading in all central panel posts after the counting of 250 ballots at all combined science schools. ABVP is following second.
Left Unity Leading After Counting of 400 Votes
The Left Unity maintained its lead after the counting of 400 votes in all science schools combined.
Results After Counting of 700/5185 Votes
President
ABVP: 202
RJD: 102
Left Unity: 183
BAPSA: 51
NSUI: 51
VP
ABVP: 202
Left Unity: 222
BAPSA:35
NSUI: 142
GS
ABVP: 241
Left Unity: 212
BAPSA: 56
NSUI: 52
Jt Secy
ABVP: 236
Left Unity: 178
BAPSA: 59
NSUI: 86
Left Unity Won 4 Out of 5 Councillor Posts
Left Unity won 4 out of 5 councillor posts at School of International Study while NSUI won 1.
JNU Students Allegedly Attacked by Goons
Few JNU students were allegedly attacked by goons at the gate of the university while they were coming back from the police station after filing complaint against ABVP's attack on the Election Committee.
Results After Counting 1717/5185 Votes
President
ABVP: 419
RJD: 198
Left Unity: 597
BAPSA: 222
NSUI: 72
VP
ABVP: 423
Left Unity: 744
BAPSA: 190
NSUI: 221
GS
ABVP: 500
Left Unity: 683
BAPSA:251
NSUI: 100
Jt Secy
ABVP: 496
Left Unity: 592
BAPSA: 230
NSUI: 211
Results After Counting 2206/5185 Votes
President
ABVP: 502
RJD: 260
Left Unity: 891
BAPSA: 291
VP
ABVP: 514
Left Unity: 1095
BAPSA: 273
NSUI: 259
GS
ABVP: 705
Left Unity: 1018
BAPSA: 358
Jt Secy
ABVP: 616
Left Unity: 880
BAPSA: 298
Results After Counting 2706/5185 Votes
President
ABVP: 545
RJD: 301
Left Unity: 1075
BAPSA: 346
NSUI: 212
VP
ABVP: 556
Left Unity: 1229
BAPSA: 326
NSUI: 310
GS
ABVP: 763
Left Unity: 1275
BAPSA: 416
NSUI:144
Jt Sec
ABVP: 695
Left Unity: 1049
BAPSA: 346
NSUI: 374
Amidst the Chaos, Time for a Chai Break
Results After Counting 2931/5185 Votes
President
ABVP: 561
RJD: 318
Left Unity: 1193
BAPSA: 391
NSUI: 222
VP
ABVP: 570
Left Unity: 1371
BAPSA: 371
NSUI: 310
GS
ABVP: 778
Left Unity: 1351
BAPSA: 466
NSUI:175
Jt Sec
ABVP: 720
Left Unity: 1152
BAPSA: 388
NSUI: 410
Results After Counting 3281/5185 Votes
President
ABVP: 605
RJD: 350
Left Unity: 1350
BAPSA: 436
NSUI: 251
VP
ABVP: 623
Left Unity: 1571
BAPSA: 414
NSUI: 342
GS
ABVP: 834
Left Unity: 1539
BAPSA: 512
NSUI:209
Jt Sec
ABVP: 781
Left Unity: 1312
BAPSA: 430
NSUI: 477
Results After Counting 3931/5185 Votes
President
ABVP- 741
Left- 1616
VP
ABVP- 770
Left- 1900
GS
ABVP- 973
Left- 1835
Jt Sec
ABVP- 943
Left- 1552
Results After Counting 4709/5185 Votes
President
RJD: 459
ABVP : 833
Left Unity: 1861
BAPSA: 585
NSUI: 354
Vice President
ABVP: 872
NSUI: 417
BAPSA: 554
Left Unity: 2209
General Secretary
Left Unity: 2115
ABVP: 1079
NSUI: 306
BAPSA: 686
Joint Secretary
Left Unity: 1775
BAPSA: 568
NSUI: 693
ABVP: 1071
Results After Counting 4481/5185 Votes
President
RJD: 479
ABVP : 875
Left Unity: 1948
BAPSA: 635
NSUI: 367
Vice President
ABVP: 918
NSUI: 428
BAPSA: 594
Left Unity: 2326
General Secretary
Left Unity: 2207
ABVP: 1128
NSUI: 314
BAPSA: 745
Jt Sec
Left Unity:1839
BAPSA: 661
NSUI: 744
ABVP: 1118
Left Unity Begin Victory Celebrations
As news comes in of a left sweep in the University, the Left Unity are beginning to celebrate in the JNU.
Final Results Declared, Left Unity Emerges Victorious
Final results have declared the Left Unity as victors in the JNUSU elections, ANI reported.
The final numbers as reported are:
President
N Sai Balaji (Left Unity): 2161
Lalit Pandey (ABVP): 982
Vice President
Sarika Chaudhary(Left Unity): 2592
Gita Baruah (ABVP)- 1012
General Secretary
Aejaz Ahmed Rather (Left Unity): 2423
Ganesh Gurjar (ABVP): 1223
Joint Secretary
Amutha Jayadeep (Left Unity): 2047
Venkat Choubey (ABVP): 1290
Occupying the four posts are N Sai Balaji as President, Sarika Chaudhary as Vice President, Aejaz Ahmed Rather as General Secretary and Amutha Jayadeep as Joint Secretary.
In Pics: Left Unity Celebrates Victory
Following the final results of the elections, members of the Left Unity parties were seen celebrating its victory on campus.
"Fight it Back and Fight it Well: Outgoing President Geeta Kumari
Speaking to The Quint, outgoing President Geeta Kumari says her advice to the incoming President, N Sai Balaji is to “fight it back and fight it well”.
This Victory is for All Students: JNUSU President-Elect Sai Balaji
JNUSU President-Elect N Sai Balaji (Left Unity) speaks to The Quint on what this victory for the Left Unity means for politics both within the JNU campus, and outside it.
“It’s a victory not just for the left parties, but for all students,” he says.