Left parties join hands to take on ABVP, AISA

“The party (AISA) has been in power for the last 11 months. But it has suddenly woken up to address issues of gender and social justice,”  Kataria said.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) presidential candidate Sourabh Kumar underlined the need to install CCTV cameras across the campus to ensure women safety.

“The culture of JNU has degraded in recent times. We want CCTV cameras installed on the campus. But this demand is being opposed by Left wing groups which claim that privacy will be hampered,” Kumar said at the general body meeting organised by the election committee.

The Left parties also attacked the AISA for reducing the autonomy of the university’s Gender Sensitisation Committee for Sexual Harassment (GSCASH).This comes in the backdrop of a sexual harassment complaint filed against two union office-bearers with the GSCASH last month.

In a bid to defeat the Right-wing ABVP and the ruling AISA, the Left wing groups came together to forge an alliance for JNUSU polls. The alliance named Left Progressive Front (LPF), comprised the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), All India Students Federation (AISF) and Students for Social Justice. The LPF hopes to pose a stiff competition to AISA and ABVP.

“It is a broad alliance against ABVP too. The situation outside the campus has changed and it will reflect on the union elections as well. The alliance is to not let the right-wing come to power,” Lenin, leader of Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and former JNUSU president, said.

Through the alliance, the Left students groups want to address the issue of lack of hostel facilities by pushing for alternative accommodation if its presidential nominee Rahila Perween, the only woman candidate in the race, is voted to power.

The LPF’s election agenda include strengthening of GSCASH, among others. “We want to ensure a more democratic atmosphere for the complainant who seeks to file a sexual harassment complaint with GSCASH. Increasing the number of counsellors in GSCASH is also a top priority,” Lenin said.

Hostels, viva weightage in entrance examinations and creation of a placement cell were the other issues highlighted by the students’ bodies. The groups also emphasised on restructuring the syllabus and starting a JNU press.

“We also propose to start helpline numbers and research-oriented placement cells, which would not include MNCs. We will also take up the fight for separate schools for Indian languages,” Lenin said.