New Delhi: In the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student union elections, traditionally dominated by left-wing student organisations, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student wing affiliated with the RSS, made notable gains. While candidates from the left-wing student organisations — All India Students’ Association (AISA), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) — won the key positions of president, vice president, and general secretary, ABVP broke a nine-year losing streak by winning the post of joint secretary.

ABVP emerged as the main challenger to the leftist dominance by securing the second-highest number of votes in the major positions. They also won two out of the five councillor seats. Nitish Kumar from AISA was elected president by winning 1,702 votes. ABVP’s candidate, Shikha Swaraj, came second with 1,430 votes, while Tayabba Ahmed, contesting with SFI’s support, secured third place with 918 votes.

Manisha from DSF won the vice president post with 1,150 votes, while ABVP’s Nitu Gautam came second with 1,116 votes. Munteha Fatima from DSF won the general secretary position by securing 1,520 votes, defeating ABVP’s Kunal Rai, who garnered 1,406 votes. In a surprise victory, ABVP’s Vaibhav Meena won the joint secretary post with 1,518 votes, surpassing AISA’s Naresh Kumar, who got 1,433 votes. Nigam Kumari, the candidate from the Progressive Students’ Association (PSA), secured third place with 1,256 votes. This marks the first time since 2015-16 that ABVP has won one of the major posts.

Out of 7,906 eligible voters, around 5,500 students cast their votes in the elections held on 25 April. This time, divisions within the left-wing student groups were evident: AISA and DSF contested together, while the AFI allied with other left-leaning organisations. ABVP contested independently.