Five parties are contesting the JNU student union elections this year.
Highlights
- Rival Left parties come together to counter ABVP
- Ex-President Kanhaiya Kumar's party not contesting
- Issues like infrastructure, hostel space not getting attention: Students
A day before polling at Delhi's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, the campus was in a frenzy.
The presidential debate on Wednesday night - an ongoing tradition before the student union elections -- witnessed hundreds of people, who had come to hear the candidates speak.
Part of the interest stems from the arrest of last year's president, Kanhaiya Kumar. He was arrested on charges of sedition after a video of alleged "anti-national" slogans being raised at a JNU event surfaced.
Five parties are contesting the elections this year. The Left parties - the Students' Federation of India and the All India Student Students' Association, known to criticise each other in the past, have joined hands to form the United Left Panel.
They are up against the Congress' NSUI, ABVP, which is linked to the BJP and two relatively new parties -- the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Association and the Students' Front for Swaraj.
The presidential debate on Wednesday night witnessed hundreds of people came to hear the candidates speak.
Mr Kumar's party -- the All India Students' Federation (AISF), is not contesting this year. It has pledged support to the United Left Panel. "It is important to come together with the opposition, otherwise the opposition from the other side gets an advantage," Mr Kumar told NDTV.
The ABVP, which won its first ever seat in the Union last year and faced the brunt of Mr Kumar's criticisms, mocked the United Panel.
"I heard a slogan last year, 'Here comes the SFI which is going to kick out the AISA'. Now you are together?" said Janhawi, the ABVP presidential candidate, during Wednesday's presidential debate.
The Left responded with its sustained attack on the Narendra Modi government and the ABVP. "Modiji had gone out to become a Pradhan Sewak, but he ended up becoming a model for JIO," said Mohit Pandey, the candidate for the United Left.
The Presidential debate, which began at 9 pm and continued till 3 am, saw many excited students.
Some felt that debates like these that showcase the environment of debate and dissent in JNU, while others say the real issues of the campus are being ignored in the political blame-game.
"There are infrastructural issues like a hostel crunch and the health dispensary is also in a poor condition," said Aamir Khan, a history student.
A student of English, Antara, said there's politics in hospital allotment. "If you are given space by people already living in the hostel, then one has to support their party," she said.