Jawaharlal Nehru University​ to see Left unity in students’ polls again

NEW DELHI: The leftist groups of Jawaharlal Nehru University has come together again this year for a Left unity in the student elections, much like the last year. However, it will be a fractured unity.
While four key student organisations are expected to present a joint front, internal squabbles and politics may lead to a front with just three groups instead of four. The students filed their nominations on Tuesday.
According to a source, while the alliance between All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Democratic Students’ Front (DSF) is expected to stay stable this year, much like last year, rifts with Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Federation (AISF) may result in one of them being left out of the tie-up.
A source also confirmed that SFI had fielded separate candidates despite being a part of Left Unity, which has led to discontentment and mistrust among AISA and DSF cadres. Talks with AISF have also been witnessing rough waters with last-minute confusions over candidates being fielded for Left Unity.
If all four remain together, AISA will contest for the president’s post, DSF for the vice-president’s, SFI for the general secretary’s and AISF for the joint secretary’s. Last year, an alliance was formed among AISA, DSF and SFI, while AISF fielded its own candidates.
AISA is planning to field N Sai Balaji of School of International Studies, while DSF is pushing for Sarika Choudhry of School of Social Sciences. Last year’s United Left Panel swept the JNUSU polls.
The left alliance has been expanding over years to include more leftist groups to fight the right-wing ABVP and the Congress-backed NSUI. In 2016, AISF and SFI had formed an alliance and won the elections while AISF didn’t contest. The next year, AISA and DSF formed an alliance while AISF came back to the fray after a year’s break.