RSS student wing finally breaches Left citadel JNU
New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where red ran deep, is now showing a saffron shift. In the hotly contested Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) elections, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has achieved a massive breakthrough in the traditionally Left-dominated campus.While the Left alliance secured key central panel posts, the ABVP made unprecedented gains in councillor seats. The ABVP won 23 out of 42 councillor seats across 16 schools and special centres, which is the highest number of seats won by any student body, according to BJP leader Amit Malviya.advertisementMoreover, the ABVP has also secured two out of five seats in the School of Social Sciences and the School of International Studies, strongholds long controlled by Left student bodies. The election's verdict, which was declared late on Sunday, marks the first time in 25 years that ABVP has won seats in the School of Social Sciences.ABVP GAVE LEFT UNIONS A CLOSE FIGHT FOR ALL JNUSU POSTS
Among the four key posts, ABVP's Vaibhav Meena has been elected Joint Secretary. Even in the vice-president and general secretary posts, where the Left alliance won, the ABVP fought close battles, losing by just 34 and 114 votes respectively.Meena's victory marks the first time since 2015–16, when ABVP's Saurav Sharma last clinched the joint secretary post, that the student wing has secured a central panel seat. The last time the ABVP won the JNUSU presidency was in 2000-01 when Sandeep Mahapatra was elected."History was created and this is just the beginning," posted the ABVP-JNU X handle.advertisementIn the JNUSU, the council is made up of the central panel (president, vice-president, secretary, and joint secretary) and the councillors, who hold the power to approve all proposals. With 23 seats now under its belt, the ABVP's influence over decision-making is set to rise significantly.ABVP SUCCESS IN JNU NO SURPRISE, GREW IN LAST 10 YEARSThe performance of the ABVP is a testimony to its growing presence and purchase on the JNU campus, where Left organisations like the All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India (SFI) have historically held sway.The Left's dominance in JNU, long hailed as a Left bastion, now stands shaken by the rise of the Saffron on the campus. The ABVP has significantly expanded its presence in JNU over the past decade. The AVBP's Sunday win follows a decade of incremental gains, with ABVP consistently polling 800-1,000 votes every year.In the 2024 JNUSU elections too, the ABVP came second in all the four key seats.The Left parties, on the other hand, had been hit by challenges of internal divisions before the 2024 elections. Unlike previous years, the Left went into the elections fragmented. The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)'s AISA and the SFI contested separately.Yet, despite the ABVP's sweep of the councillor seats and winning the joint secretary post is the beginning of the breach of the Left citadel. It will only be complete when the ABVP is able to win all the four top posts of the university's students union.Trending Reel
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