Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday, March 25, congratulated the United Left Panel that swept to victory in the student polls at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) defeating the ABVP, the student’s wing of the RSS. In a statement, Stalin said, “This victory signals the downfall of right-wing fascist forces. The people of #INDIA will unitedly reject BJP in the #Elections2024.”
The United Left coalition consisting of All India Students Association (AISA), Democratic Students Federation (DSF), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), and All India Students’ Federation (AISF) swept three out of four central panel positions, including president, vice president, and joint secretary in the students’ union election in Jawaharlal Nehru University which was held on March 22.
The post for president was won by Dhananjay, Avijit Ghosh won the vice president post, and Mohammad Sajid won as joint secretary. Dhananjay secured 2590 votes, defeating ABVP’s Umesh Chandra Ajmeera who garnered 1676 votes, thereby becoming the first Dalit president of JNUSU since Batti Lal Bairwa in 1996-97.
Expressing his wishes on X, the Chief Minister said, “Congratulations to the #UnitedLeftPanel on their resounding victory in #JNUSU elections! The ABVP's violent tactics, and even cancelling Left candidate Swati Singh's nomination at the last minute, revealed their fear of defeat. Despite their shameful actions, the #JNU community has reaffirmed its rich tradition.” Swati Singh, who was contesting for the post of general secretary, was disqualified a day before the election following a complaint by the ABVP regarding an incident in 2023. In lieu of her disqualification, the Left extended its outside support to Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA)’s candidate Priyanshi Arya. Priyanshi registered a landslide victory against the ABVP candidate Arjun Anand.
Responding to this, Swati Singh wrote, “Thank you Thiru MK Stalin. The land of social justice has always stood against ideology of RSS-BJP and its a collective fight against the effort to dismantle our democratic institutions & target dissenting voices, whether through ED-CBI or the JNU Admin. shall fight & shall win!”