Patna varsity poll results spring surprise

Patna, December 8

A year after having made a splash in Patna University Students’ Union polls, the student wing of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) bit the dust on Sunday, failing to win any of the key posts, while RSS affiliated ABVP came up with a diminished performance, holding on to only the general secretary’s post.

Last year, the Chhatra JD(U) had bagged the posts of president and treasurer while ABVP’s Priyanka Srivastava had won as general secretary.

The student wing of Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), a fledgling outfit floated by former Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and backed by the Leftist AISF, came out with a stunning performance as its candidates Manish Kumar and Amir Raza were elected president and joint secretary. Ultra-left AISA made a comeback of sorts as Komal Kumari, fighting for the post of the treasurer, emerged victorious. Nishant Kumar, the candidate of Chhatra RJD, the students’ wing of Lalu Prasad’s party, bagged the vice-president’s post.

Pappu Yadav tweeted, “This is not just a victory but a huge responsibility. We dedicate our success to mathematician Vashishth Narayan Singh”. The latter, who died last month after spending years in penury and fighting mental illness, was an alumnus of Patna University.

The Bihar BJP sought to downplay the poor show of the ABVP, which came less than a year before assembly elections are scheduled in the state. A visit to the VC’s office ahead of the elections by JD(U) national vice-president Prashant Kishor had triggered a controversy and ABVP supporters had pelted his vehicle with stones. — PTI