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On JNU campus, Left is fragmented yet unites against common foe, just like outside
On JNU campus, Left is fragmented yet unites against common foe, just like outside Premium
In the celebrations after the Left Unity won all four posts in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) beating RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) earlier this month, the four post holders carried daflis with the names of their respective organisations written on them, symbolising that they are one, but not entirely. Two of them held up signs that read AISA [All India Students' Association], one SFI [Students' Federation of India], and one DSF [Democratic Students' Federation]. Flags and posters of each of the organisations were seen throughout the celebrations and the victory march.
The alliance's reason for coming together has been clear from the get-go. The year after ABVP entered the union in 2015 after a gap of nine years, two major Left organisations on campus – AISA and SFI – forged an alliance with the aim of “keeping the ABVP out”. Nine years and six election cycles on, a similar pattern emerged.
During the previous election cycle, held earlier in 2025, the Left was split into two blocs with the CPI(M)'s SFI forming the Left-Ambedkarite panel with the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), the All India Students Federation (AISF) and the Progressive Students Association (PSA), while the CPIML(Liberation)'s AISA allied with the DSF.
Since 2016, the SFI and the AISA have maintained their alliance. Over the years, the alliance grew to include the All India Students' Federation (AISF) and the DSF. According to student leaders, these alliances are formed not only on their idea of keeping the ABVP out, but also on the basis of which organisations are capable of garnering more votes. Both the SFI and the AISA have had a strong hold in JNU.
After 2019, where the SFI's Aishe Ghosh became the President, the union elections were put on hold due to the pandemic. In 2024, where JNU saw its first election since, an alliance was formed between the AISA, the SFI, the AISF and the DSF. Due to the last-minute cancellation of the DSF candidates' candidature over a proctorial inquiry, the alliance backed the BAPSA candidate for the post of General Secretary.
Over time, however, the cracks in the alliance began to show. When the CPM and the CPIML-Liberation began having disagreements over the CPM's resolution to describe the Modi government as “neo-fascist”, the disagreements began percolating into the JNUSU's. At the time, during a protest over the delay over the conduct of elections, a split between the AISA and the others became visible. Dhananjay from the AISA, who held the Presidential post, began circulating his own statements, while the other three had their own messaging, leaving out Dhananjay's name.
SFI's Avijit Ghosh, who was the Vice President at the time, said that while a theoretical debate over whether the Modi government could be labelled as fascist or neo-fascist had entered the JNUSU, the split was not primarily due to it. “We did not consider the debate as a major factor for the split. Our methods of protest were different, that caused the split.”
Meanwhile, the AISA maintained that during the protests where the union had gathered around the office of the Dean of Students Welfare, Dhananjay was sidelined and accused of “letting the DoS out”. At the time, student leaders argued that the SFI's “anti-AISA” stance was seemingly stronger than their “pro-ABVP stance”. Other arguments that led the union to split in the following election cycle included who would contest the Presidential post, and whether the BAPSA was to be included in the union.
In April, the AISA-DSF faction won the election. But this time, the ABVP entered the union after a nine-year gap with one post. This union was short-lived as elections were scheduled in November, to align with the academic calendar. The administration is working towards stabilising the academic calendar, which had been delayed since the pandemic. In the recent election cycle held in November, SFI and AISA recreated the alliance along with DSF, an independent Left organisation, saying that they do not want the “progressive vote to be divided” as that is better for the ABVP.
Despite the differences in the previous cycle, the common goal for both sides was clear – to keep the ABVP out. The ABVP trailed on all four posts and the margins ranged from 101 votes to 1,300 votes.
ABVP's Rajeshwar Kant Dubey, the General Secretary candidate, who trailed on the General Secretary post, said that the alliance is “flawed” because it is not an ideological alliance but one forged only for the “seat of power”.
While Avijit Ghosh says that the JNUSU is a reflection of the larger Left politics in the country, where the aim is to challenge the BJP, Rajeshwar argues that the alliance in JNU is “weak” because it is part of a larger ecosystem and does not work “for the students”.
While in Bihar, the two parent organisations are in an alliance, along with the Congress, an alliance with Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) in JNU has not been in the picture. The NSUI garners only a few votes on campus.
Meanwhile, in Delhi University, where the NSUI has a stronger hold, the Left does not win many. So on either of the two campuses, they have not found enough of a reason to form an alliance that includes both the Left and the NSUI.
N. Sai Balaji, from the AISA, who served as the President in 2018, says that the NSUI could form an alliance with the Left to put a stronger foot forward but such an opportunity has not presented itself. He said that the AISA is hopeful that the alliance will work well this time around.
Ghosh, too, said that while they put forward a common front, talks, protests and demonstrations are held separately on campus. Despite the fragments, both of them argue that the common goal is strong enough.
Published - November 13, 2025 06:53 pm IST
Source: The Hindu
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