Dissent, debate, and delivery: Competing visions clash as JNUSU campaigning enters final leg

With just three days left for voting in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections, both the Left alliance and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have ramped up their outreach to sway the student electorate.

While Left is invoking JNU’s legacy of “progressive, inclusive, and democratic politics”, ABVP’s plank has been “performance and nationalism”.

The election, scheduled for November 4, with results to be declared on November 6, has revived intense political activity on the campus after a year marked by protests, debates over accessibility and inclusion, and concerns over the role of student unions in university governance.

Students say the contest is likely to be fierce, with turnout expected to be high after months of spirited debate.

The Left Unity — comprising the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), and Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) — is contesting as a joint front this year.

The RSS-backed ABVP, on the other hand, has mounted a high-decibel campaign projecting itself as a “result-oriented alternative”.

Left candidate for president Aditi Mishra, a PhD scholar from the School of International Studies, said during a campaign address that the elections were being held “at a time when crimes against women are rising, and ruling leaders are blaming women for stepping out”.

Also read: 15 per cent of deaths in Delhi in 2023 linked to air pollution: Report

She described the polls as part of a larger struggle for “an inclusive JNU that remains accessible to students from all backgrounds without barriers of caste, gender, region, or religion”.

Danish Ali, contesting for the post of joint secretary from the Left Unity, alleged that “Dalits and Muslims are facing continuous attacks across the country” and accused the ABVP of bringing similar “divisive politics” into the campus.

“We must stand against casteism and Islamophobia and defend democratic spaces in universities,” she said during a student meeting.

In contrast, the ABVP in a statement said that it had “strengthened its position” in JNU while the Left alliance was “in disarray”.

The organisation claimed that Left groups, once dominant in the university, were now on the defensive.

“The political dialogue in JNU has shifted from slogans to substance,” the ABVP statement said.

“Students now want accountability and performance rather than confrontational politics,” said the student organisation.

The outfit highlighted its initiatives from the past term, including efforts to improve hostel facilities, restore student services such as the ‘U-Special’ bus, and push for campus infrastructure improvements.

An ABVP representative said the organisation’s growing influence reflected “students’ desire for constructive engagement and solution-oriented leadership”, adding that Left groups were “uniting out of necessity rather than ideology”.

The Left alliance, countering these claims, credited the outgoing JNUSU—led by AISA’s Nitish Kumar as president and DSF’s Manisha and Munteha Fatima as vice president and general secretary, respectively—for “fighting against administrative attacks on students’ rights”.

It cited policy-level interventions, including a successful protest against the eviction of final-year PhD students, opposition to hostel fee hikes, and defence of the merit-cum-means scholarship scheme.

The Left also accused the ABVP of “silence and complicity” during these struggles.

“The outgoing JNUSU upheld JNU’s culture of dissent, debate, and democracy, while the ABVP remained absent from key student issues,” a Left Unity statement said.

The contest this year has also seen AISA and SFI joining forces after contesting separately in the previous polls.

Candidates from Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) are also in the fray.

In last year’s election, ABVP’s Vaibhav Meena clinched the joint secretary seat — the first ABVP win in a decade. The result was hailed by the outfit as “a historic shift in JNU’s political landscape”.

As campaigning reaches its fag end, both sides are intensifying their outreach, holding late-night corner meetings in hostels and academic centres.

The campus walls are covered with posters and slogans, reviving the characteristic buzz of JNU’s electoral season.

The JNUSU elections, one of the most closely watched student polls in the country, have traditionally served as a barometer of youth political trends and ideological shifts in university spaces.