JNU students’ union polls: Left panel bags three key central panel posts, ABVP wins one

Nitish Kumar from AISA was declared President, Manisha from DSF was elected Vice-President, Munteha from DSF won the post of General Secretary, and Vaibhav Meena from ABVP was elected Joint Secretary. For the first time in a decade, the ABVP made its way back into the central panel of the JNUSU.

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 28, 2025 02:33 AM IST

At JNU on Sunday night. Polling for the four central posts was held on Friday, with results trickling in by Sunday evening (Express Photo)

Jawaharlal Nehru University’s fiercely fought student union elections came to a close late Sunday, with the Left alliance of the All India Students’ Association and Democratic Students’ Front (AISA-DSF) bagging three of the four central panel positions. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won one post.

Nitish Kumar from AISA was declared President, Manisha from DSF was elected Vice-President, Munteha from DSF won the post of General Secretary, and Vaibhav Meena from ABVP was elected Joint Secretary.

For the first time in a decade, the ABVP made its way back into the central panel of JNUSU, which had consistently seen a Left union since 2016. This comes in the backdrop of the United Left — AISA and the Students’ Federation of India — going their own way in this year’s election.

AISA formed a panel with the DSF, while the SFI allied with the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA), and Progressive Students’ Association (PSA).

Speaking to The Indian Express before the results were announced, Nitish Kumar said, “If I win, the first thing I will work on is pushing for more funding into JNU — there have been a lot of fund cuts over the past few years. I will work towards improving the university’s infrastructure. We will also work towards bringing back the JNUEE exam for admissions; push to eradicate the CPO manual, which imposes fines on students for dissent and protests; and push for women students to get single-seater accommodation in the second year.”

Also Read | Amid divided Left and Samajwadi Party student body, JNU polls no longer direct fight between Red and Saffron

Referring to the rise of the ABVP on campus, he added, “The last time the ABVP entered the panel in 2015-16, JNU suffered an image of anti-nationalism. This time, we, as a union, will not let that happen.”

The ABVP, meanwhile, claimed a “historic” performance in the councillor elections — it said it had won 23 out of 42 councillor seats across JNU’s 16 schools and special centres. In a statement issued Sunday, the organisation said it had broken into the traditionally Left-dominated bastions of the School of Social Sciences and the School of International Studies — winning two out of five seats in each.

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“In the School of Social Sciences, considered a centre of Left influence in JNU, ABVP secured two seats for the first time in 25 years, signaling a historic shift,” the ABVP claimed.

On the results, ABVP JNU unit president Rajeshwar Kant Dubey said: “It is the result of our commitment to nationalism, academic excellence and student welfare. We shall continue to work with complete dedication to make the campus a centre of nation-building and student welfare.”

While the final JNUSU central panel results show the AISA-DSF combine winning three of the four key posts, the winning margins reveal a fiercely competitive battle with the ABVP.

AISA’s Nitish Kumar was elected President with 1,702 votes (21.5%), comfortably ahead of ABVP’s Shikha Swaraj, who secured 1,430 votes (18.1%), while SFI’s Tayyaba finished third with 918 votes (11.6%).

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The Vice-President contest was one of the closest: DSF’s Manisha won with 1,150 votes (14.5%), narrowly defeating ABVP’s Nittu, who got 1,116 votes (14.1%), a difference of just 34 votes.

For the General Secretary post, Munteha (DSF) secured 1,520 votes (19.2%), beating ABVP’s Kunal Rai, who polled 1,406 votes (17.8%), a gap of 114 votes. ABVP found success in the Joint Secretary race, where Vaibhav won with 1,518 votes (19.2%), surpassing the Left panel’s Naresh, who got 1,433 votes (18.1%), winning by 85 votes.

Although SFI had historically maintained a stronghold in JNU politics, the university’s electoral landscape shifted after 2012, when JNUSU elections resumed following a Supreme Court ruling. In the years since, AISA often emerged as the stronger Left force on campus.

The ABVP last held a central panel seat in 2015-16, when it grabbed the post of Joint Secretary by defeating the AISA candidate by a narrow margin of 28 votes.

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Since then, the United Left — comprising AISA, SFI, DSF, and AISF — had secured all four key posts in 2016 and maintained dominance in most years thereafter.

Polling for the four central posts was held on Friday. A total of 7,906 students were eligible to vote this year — 57% male and 43% female — with the voter turnout close to 70%, slightly lower than last year’s turnout of around 73%.

In 2024, Dhananjay, contesting from the United Left, had secured 2,598 votes, defeating ABVP’s Umesh Chandra Ajmeera by a margin of 922 votes. That election had also seen BAPSA make significant inroads, with one of its candidates elected to the central panel.

Vidheesha Kuntamalla

Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More

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