Left win in JNU victory of discarded ideology: Kiren Rijiju

A day after the JNU and Dusu poll results, Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday credited the victory of ABVP in Delhi University Students’ Union polls to the “fresh minded” students of the varsity and the win of Left candidates in JNU due to students who are “romanticised by a discarded ideology.”

The “Left-Unity” alliance swept all four seats in the JNU students union election, defeating the ABVP with considerable margins. The Left-affiliated groups have been locked in a battle with ABVP over dominance of their respective ideology on the campus in aftermath of the February 9 incident during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, leading to arrest of three students, including the outgoing JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, in a sedition case.

Mr Rijiju’s comments came while reacting to results of the two premier educational institutions in the national capital where results of the students union elections were declared on Saturday.

“Yes, because (sic) fresh minded DU students are insulated from getting romanticised by a faulty obsolete & discarded ideology,” he tweeted.

Mr Rijiju also tweeted a picture of a newspaper headline, which says that the Delhi University students embraced right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students’ body of RSS, and the Jawaharlal Nehru University students ensured victory of Left Unity (AISA-SFI alliance).

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) continued its dominance in Delhi University Students’ Union (Dusu) polls, winning three out of four central panel posts, while NSUI made a comeback, winning the post of joint secretary in the results announced on Saturday. On the contrary, the Left Unity has swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) polls. The election was being closely watched after this year’s sedition row sparked a wave of protests on the campus.

AISA is the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxism-Leninist) and SFI is the student body of CPI-M. In Delhi University, the posts of president, vice president and secretary were won by ABVP candidates.