The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) elections have been indefinitely suspended following incidents of violence and vandalism at the Election Committee (EC) office, triggering a blame game among key student organizations on Saturday.
The EC on Friday cited a serious breakdown in campus security and a hostile environment as the reason for halting the poll process.
Tensions flared after the EC extended the nomination withdrawal deadline multiple times. It was initially set for April 16 then pushed to 4 pm and 4:30 pm on April 17 and later extended by an additional 30 minutes on April 18.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) opposed these extensions, accusing the EC of acting under the influence of Left-leaning groups, particularly the All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India (SFI).
The ABVP claimed that the decisions were undemocratic and intended to buy time for a possible Left alliance to materialize.
ABVP's JNU unit president Rajeshwar Kant Dubey said the Election Committee had abandoned its neutrality and was functioning as "Team B of the Left".
He described the EC's actions as a "murder of democracy" and an attack on constitutional norms.
The ABVP held a press conference here and demanded that the elections be conducted on time as per the original schedule.
The ABVP alleged that the EC's move to reopen the withdrawal window even after releasing the final candidate list on April 17 was unconstitutional.
In retaliation, the AISA-DSF alliance accused the ABVP of violent disruption and attempts to intimidate the EC members.
AISA campaign coordinator and current JNUSU president Dhananjay alleged that the ABVP members stormed the EC office on April 17 and 18, broke glass panes, damaged barricades and chased its members onto the roof.
He claimed that several individuals involved in the violence were not even the JNU students.
DSF campaign coordinator Anagha said that EC members had to physically barricade themselves inside their office to stay safe from the attackers.
Earlier on Friday, the Election Committee in a statement said that its members felt unsafe and could not continue under current conditions.
"Due to recent incidents of violence and vandalism at the EC office and against the EC members, the election process has been seriously disrupted. Until the safety of EC members is ensured by the administration and student organizations, the entire process, including the release of the final candidate list, has been put on hold," the EC said.
The political landscape this year has been significantly altered by the collapse of the traditional United Left alliance.
The AISA has allied with the DSF, while the SFI has joined hands with the AISF, BAPSA and PSA.
The ABVP on the other hand is contesting independently.
The three major alliances had declared their full panel of candidates.
ABVP's panel includes Shikha Swaraj for president, Nittu Goutham for vice president, Kunal Rai for general secretary and Vaibhav Meena for joint secretary.
The AISA-DSF alliance has fielded Nitish Kumar (AISA) for president, Manisha (DSF) for vice president, Munteha Fatima (DSF) for general secretary and Naresh Kumar (AISA) for joint secretary.
The SFI-AISF-BAPSA-PSA alliance has nominated Chaudhary Tayyaba Ahmed for president, Santosh Kumar for vice president, Ramniwas Gurjar for general secretary and Nigam Kumari for joint secretary.
As per the original schedule, the presidential debate was to take place on April 23 followed by polling on April 25 in two sessions -- 9 am to 1 pm and 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.
Counting was slated to begin on the same night, with results expected by April 28.
However, with the election process now indefinitely suspended, the future of the JNUSU polls remains uncertain.
A total of 7,906 students are registered to vote in this year's elections, with male voters accounting for 57 per cent and female voters 43 per cent.
The EC had earlier urged the JNU administration to take immediate action against those involved in the violence and ensure a secure environment before resuming the election process.
Meanwhile, the campus remains tense as the student organizations await the next move.
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