Left sweeps JNUSU polls, wins all four central posts

The Left Unity made a clean sweep in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections, winning all four central panel posts and reaffirming its dominance on the campus.

The Left alliance comprising All-India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) defeated the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) by comfortable margins across the board.

Aditi Mishra of AISA was elected the JNUSU president with 1,937 votes, defeating ABVP’s Vikas Patel, who secured 1,488 votes.

For vice-president post, K Gopika Babu of the SFI registered a thumping win with 3,101 votes, outpacing ABVP’s Tanya Kumari who polled 1,787 votes.

In the general secretary contest, Sunil Yadav of the DSF won by a narrow but significant margin of 104 votes, polling 2,005 votes against ABVP’s Rajeshwar Kant Dubey, who secured 1,901 votes.

The joint secretary position went to AISA’s Danish Ali, who garnered 2,083 votes, defeating ABVP’s Anuj by 286 votes.

Despite a strong ground campaign, the ABVP failed to secure even a single post this year. The results underline the enduring appeal of the Left’s ideological legacy in JNU, a university long considered a cradle of progressive politics and student activism.

The victory marks a decisive comeback for the Left Unity, which had united once again under the shared goal of keeping the ABVP at bay. The alliance, formed by AISA, SFI and DSF, campaigned jointly on issues of campus democracy, social inclusion and resistance to what they termed the “saffronisation” of higher education institutions.

After the victory, jubilant supporters raised slogans of “Lal Salaam” and “Unity Long Live” at Sabarmati Dhaba and Ganga Dhaba.

Since its inception in 1970s, the JNUSU has been a powerful platform shaping national-level student politics, producing leaders who later rose to prominence in mainstream political movements. This year’s mandate once again reflects JNU’s tradition of ideological debate and the student’s rejection of divisive politics.

With the Left Unity now firmly back in control, the new union, led by Aditi Mishra, is expected to focus on restoring student welfare mechanisms, strengthening campus democracy and opposing administrative curbs on dissent.