Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: The recent terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir, was a recurring theme at Wednesday night’s student union presidential debate at Jawaharlal Nehru University, punctuating the candidates’ vision for the university repeatedly. The event opened on a sombre note, with the election committee observing a two-minute silence in memory of the 26 tourists who lost their lives. Then followed a long night of rhetoric, marked by the rhythmic beat of drums, shouting of slogans and flags fluttering.
This year, the JNUSU elections have already seen turmoil, with the election process suspended indefinitely after some violent incidents on campus amid tensions caused by delay both in announcing elections by the university authorities and then in releasing the final list of nominations. After two consecutive days of violence, the election committee, which is constituted of students, published a notice April 18 in which it cited a “major lapse of security” and described the campus atmosphere as one of “hostility, fear and insecurity”. However, the suspension was revoked and the polls will be held on Friday, with the counting likely to take place on Monday.
Amid this backdrop, the much-anticipated presidential debate — arguably the most important event of the election season — drew a large and vocal crowd. The 13 presidential candidates spoke one after another, receiving loud cheers from their respective supporters. However, the debate saw repeated disruptions, with opposing student groups using dhols and loud slogans to drown out rival speakers. Kashmir, Manipur and Palestine featured prominently in the speeches, underlining the high emotions and political intensity that shaped the night.
Opening the debate session, Congress-affiliated NSUI’s Pradeep Dhaka, offering ‘krantikari salaam’, expressed solidarity with farmers, Palestinians and the Rohingya community. Echoing party senior Rahul Gandhi, he brandished a copy of the Indian Constitution as he launched a scathing critique of “crony capitalism” and govt’s handling of high-profile cases such as Hathras, Bilkis Bano and the women wrestlers’ protest. Dhaka also denounced the CAA-NRC, Waqf (Amendment) Act, and recurring examination paper leaks. In a pointed remark about campus infrastructure, he described the JNU health centre as nothing more than a “paracetamol centre”.
ABVP’s Shikha Swaraj took to the stage with ‘Vande Mataram’ and immediately invoked the Pahalgam terror attack, declaring that to say terrorism had no religion was a leftist political gimmick. She ridiculed the Left’s internal divisions and said this was a “golden opportunity” to “raise the Indian flag” in JNU again. Associating the Left with ‘tukde tukde’ politics, she asserted that ABVP would win the polls, her assertions drowned out in loud sloganeering by Left groups.
As the night wore on, Left-backed SFI candidate Choudhary Tayyaba Ahmed, who began her speech with ‘Jai Bhim, lal salaam’, was disturbed multiple times by ABVP supporters and their chants and drumbeats. She pressed on, voicing support for Palestine, condemning the attack on the university’s election committee and criticising the “unholy alliance of capitalism and Hindutva”. She flagged the removal of internal grievance committees like ICC and highlighted cases of caste and gender-based violence, including the Ram Navami meat controversy in JNU. She also demanded justice for Umar Khalid.
Independent candidate Roshan Kumar stood out for calling out political outfits for their hypocrisy in a poetic, satirical tone. He questioned the absence of real humanism in campus politics and emphasised the continued silence around the disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed. His speech, particularly on women’s empowerment, drew repeated applause.
AISA’s Nitish Kumar, a PhD scholar, launched a sharp attack on RSS, likening its ideology to that of Adolf Hitler. He also criticised the higher-education financing (HEFA loan) model and blamed the administration for infrastructural decay on the campus. Kumar was concerned about repeated instances of institutional support for faculty accused of sexual harassment. He promised structural reforms, including enhanced student grievance redressal mechanisms.
This year marked a significant shift in campus politics with the longstanding united Left alliance breaking down, which many students believed would provide ABVP with a strategic opportunity to expand its influence and voter base in JNU. The rupture stemmed from failed negotiations over a common presidential nominee and disagreements regarding the inclusion of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) in the coalition.
Mayank Rawat
