New Delhi

Small parties too in JNU race

NEW DELHI: Apart from heavyweights like the Students’ Federation of India and the All-India Students’ Association, a number of smaller parties are also in the race for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union elections scheduled to be held on November 3.

Candidates from different students’ organisations like the Bahujan Students’ Front, the Chhatr Lok Janshakti, the Progressive Students’ Union, the Democratic Students’ Union and the Students’ Voice have thrown their hat into the ring.

The Chhatr Lok Janshakti, the student wing of the Lok Janshakti Party founded by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, will be contesting the elections this time after a gap of a year.

“We have been fighting JNUSU elections for past five years. We feel that in the past few years, there has been a dent in the Left’s dominance on the campus. Last year AISA won the students’ mandate, but they did nothing concrete. Our party demands a ban on destructive forces like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena,” said Sagheer Ahmad, who is the party’s presidential candidate.

The other candidate is Mohammed Mujtaba Kamal who’s fighting for the post of general secretary.

Set up at Delhi University in 1993, the JNU chapter of the Progressive Students’ Union was founded in 2002 by Avinash Pandey, who is in the race for the post of president this year.

“Our main opposition are the Right-wing forces. We think de-politicisation has set in on the campus. There is no political debate. We want to politicise the campus. Our agenda is to decisively defeat the Right-wing forces and provide a viable Left alternative,” said Vibha, who will be contesting the election for the councillor’s post.

The PSU is fielding two candidates each for the central panel and councillors’ posts.

Both the Progressive Students’ Union and the Democratic Students’ Union had contested JNUSU elections for the first time in 2005.

DSU’s Kalaiyarasan A., who is standing for councillor’s post, said: “We are a part of the All-India Revolutionary Students’ Federation. We support Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. We stand in solidarity with the revolutionary movements going on in India and outside. We feel there is a need to connect students’ politics with issues of peoples’ movements.”

DSU has fielded four candidates for councillors and one for president.

Contesting the polls for the third time, the Bahujan Students’ Front will raise issues of “caste-based harassment” and alleged discrimination against all minorities on the campus.

“The campus is secular only in name. There is discrimination against all minorities in the hostels and mess. There are different tables for different communities. Minorities are being neglected,” said the BSF’s presidential candidate, Dharmendra Inani.

Apart from putting up candidates for the central panel, the BSF has fielded three contestants for councillors’ posts.

Founder of the Students’ Voice in 2004, Mohammed Hafeezur Rahman is the only person from the outfit to contest the JNUSU polls.

Having been in the race for president in the past as well, Hafeezur is hopeful of a good result: “JNUSU has not seen strong leadership in many years. Owing to party politics, the main organisations have leaders who have no vision and no knowledge. I am confident that JNU students would support an able candidate.”

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