How ABVP broke into the Red citadel of JNU after a decade

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

Polling for the four central panel posts was held on Friday. Of the 7,906 eligible voters, close to 70% cast their votes — slightly lower than last year’s turnout of around 73%. In the final tally, Nitish Kumar from the All India Students’ Association (AISA) was elected President, Manisha from the Democratic Students’ Front (DSF) became Vice-President, Munteha Fatima from DSF was elected General Secretary, while Meena clinched the post of Joint Secretary for ABVP.

The AISA, which broke away from the Students’ Federation of India, allied with DSF for the polls.

Meena, now a PhD scholar in Hindi Literature at JNU, has become the first from his village to enter the university and made it to the central student body.

Growing up, he said, his father’s interest in politics laid the foundation for his own political journey. “My father has always been my inspiration to enter student politics. I have been associated with the ABVP since my time at Jaipur University.”

But Meena’s entry into JNU wasn’t just about academic ambition, it was about breaking barriers of caste, geography, and class. “I come from a tribal background… my mother and father work as farmers,” he said. “I am the first from my village to do a PhD in Hindi.”

Apart from the central panel win, the ABVP claimed it won 23 out of 42 councillor seats across JNU’s 16 schools and special centres. In a statement issued Sunday, ABVP described its performance as “historic,” highlighting breakthroughs into traditionally Left-dominated bastions such as the School of Social Sciences and the School of International Studies.

In a statement earlier, the student body also said that the “failure of the current Left-led JNUSU has raised concerns over academic quality, infrastructural facilities and democratic discourse on campus”.

Asked about operating within a historically Left-dominated campus, Meena remained unfazed.

“We have done very well in winning most of the councillor posts in schools, so I don’t think it should be a problem,” he said. “The Left has been dominant for a decade, but still, look at the campus and its deteriorating infrastructure. They couldn’t make anything better. This is my goal: to make JNU better for students and to save it from the ‘deshdrohi’ image that the Left is responsible for.”

For Meena, student politics is only the beginning. His ambition stretches far beyond JNU’s campus gates. “I aim to enter active politics in the future while being associated with the Vidyarthi Parishad and wish to do more work to uplift people in our society,” he said.