The United Left is leading in all four central panel posts in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union polls, counting for which is underway. According to the election committee, after counting 3,281 out of 5185 votes, N Sai Balaji, presidential candidate of the Left is leading with 1,350 votes. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Lalit Pandey was at the second position with 605 votes followed by Thallapalli Praveen from BAPSA (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association).
In the other central panel posts of vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary, the United Left is ahead of its rivals.
There was high drama on Saturday as counting was suspended for close to 14 hours after the ABVP staged protests claiming it was not informed about the start of the counting process.
The counting, which was suspended at 4 am, resumed at 6.30 pm after two teachers from the Grievance Redressal Cell were appointed as observers for the exercise, officials said.
The voter turnout in the keenly contested JNUSU election on Friday was 67.8 per cent, believed to be the highest in six years. Over 5,000 students cast their votes.
The Left-backed All India Students' Association (AISA), Students' Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students' Federation (DSF) and All India Students' Federation (AISF) have come together to form the United-Left alliance. Besides the Left bloc, there are candidates of the ABVP, the NSUI (National Students' Union of India) and BAPSA.
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