Amal Pullarkkat | Photo: FacebookNew Delhi: The "Left-Unity" alliance swept all four seats in the JNU students union election, defeating the RSS' student wing ABVP with considerable margins.
While Mohit Pandey of the left alliance was elected as the JNUSU president, Amal Pullarkkat from Kerala was elected as the vice-president. Amal is a native of Moothakunnam in Paravoor.
Mohit Pandey defeated Rahul Sonpimple of BAPSA by a margin of 409 votes and Amal won the vice-presidential post with the highest margin of 1,304 votes, defeating Ravi Ranjan Choudhary.
The Left-affiliated groups have been locked in a battle with ABVP over dominance of their respective ideology on the campus in aftermath of the February 9 incident during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, leading to arrest of three students, including the outgoing JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, in a sedition case.
For the first time, the CPI(ML)'s student wing All India Students' Association (AISA), which has enjoyed a strong hold on the campus for years, formed an alliance with the Student Federation of India (SFI) of the CPI(M).
The alliance also emerged victorious on 30 out of 31 seats for councilors. ABVP won only one councilor seat from Department of Sanskrit.
Giving a tough fight to the Left-Unity was Birsa Ambdekar Phule Students Association (BAPSA) which was on the second position for the presidential post while ABVP was the second runner for the post of Vice President and General Secretary.
A total of 1,140 students exercised the None of The Above (NOTA) option.
(With agency inputs)
