JNUSU election results: Counting held up for 15 hours as ABVP storms centre crying bias

NEW DELHI: The counting of votes of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union elections resumed after a 15-hour standoff on Saturday evening, and trends showed Left Unity leading, with ABVP not far behind. The process had come to a halt earlier when ABVP, claiming that the tallying had begun without its counting agents being present, barged in on the tabulators and stayed put there between about 3am and 5.30pm on Saturday. The full results are expected to be announced on Sunday evening.




Charging the JNUSU election committee with bias, ABVP activists claimed it had broken the seal of ballot boxes and started the tabulating of the central panel votes in the absence of counting agents of the candidates affiliated to ABVP. Student witnesses said the right-wingers forced their way into the School of International Studies building which had been turned into the counting centre.

In a statement, ABVP claimed, “The rule requires the candidate or the counting agent to see every paper ballot. So, it was illegal of the EC to begin the count. When an objection was registered by ABVP, workers of the left organisations started manhandling ABVP counting agents.”

The EC itself claimed — and this was corroborated by the counting agents present in the centre — that three announcements were made over loudspeaker asking all candidates to come or send their representatives as counting agents. The third call was announced as the final call. Himanshu Kulshreshta, EC member, said that 14 representatives of 10 candidates were present when the ballot boxes were opened.

According Shubhanshu Singh, incumbent JNUSU joint secretary and Left Unity counting agent, the ABVP members attacked the guard stationed at the door. “Three calls were made for all representatives to be present, but no one from ABVP came,” said Singh, who added that ABVP cadres also tried to gain access to the room where the counting was taking place, a place where no one is allowed in except the EC members.

While the ABVP cadre inside the building demanded that the votes be recounted or repolling carried out, some others surrounded the centre outside and a sloganeering face-off ensued. Left Unity presidential candidate N Sai Balaji accused ABVP of entering the SIS building “after counting had started and they found had lost most of the seats for councillors in the Science Schools, considered to be their stronghold”.

Student organisations on the campus, including NSUI, BAPSA and Islamic Student Organisation, called a meeting at 8am, where they unanimously condemned the ABVP action. In a joint statement, the parties added that though the agents of Left Unity could not be present for the counting for the councillors’ posts in the School of Languages, the “EC’s decision was accepted by the candidates”.

Six hours after the break-in, EC complained to the Grievance Redressal Committee, which tried to mediate in the matter and get the ABVP cadre to leave the counting centre. But the ABVP members did not budge. During the deadlock, a scuffle broke out between sloganeering students from both sides and a number of injuries was reported.

Around 5.25pm on Saturday, the four ABVP members who were at the counting centre, including presidential candidate Lalit Pandey and joint secretary candidate Venkat Choubey, relented and walked out. Then at 6.10pm, the EC announced that counting would resume in 20 minutes.

After emerging from the SIS building, Pandey argued that “this is not a kangaroo court and you cannot do anything according to your whims”. He also said that ABVP finally agreed to the assurance that two teacher observers would be present to ensure that correct procedures were followed.

This was confirmed by Grievance Redressal Committee head Umesh Kadam, who told TOI, “The EC recommended two observers being present and they will now sit through the whole process. This is being done to bring transparency in the counting.”