The organisations that had campaigned against the amended citizenship act have swept the students’ union elections at Jadavpur University.
In the engineering and technology faculty, the Democratic Students’ Front (DSF) retained the union, winning all four office-bearer posts.
In science, We The Independents (WTI) won all five office-bearer posts.
In the arts faculty, the Students Federation of India (SFI), an arm of the CPM, won all four office-bearer posts.
All three organisations have been consistently campaigning against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.
The elections were held on Wednesday.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the RSS, ended a distant second in the engineering faulty, dislodging the SFI from its position.
Of the 4,300 votes cast in the engineering faculty, the ABVP got a little over 500.
The organisation also contested the election in the arts faculty, where it came fourth.
After the results of the engineering faculty election was announced, supporters of the DSF raised slogans such as “Khamata dekhalo Jadavpur, shotru ebar Nagpur (Jadavpur demonstrated its power, now the enemy is Nagpur)” and “Jadavpur ei mati-te RSS-er thain nei (the soil of Jadavpur University does not have room for the RSS)”.
The RSS headquarters are located in Nagpur.
Sourish Malik, a postgraduate student of computer science and technology, said the results proved that the students had rejected the CAA and NRC. “The ABVP had put up posters in support of these divisive measures. But the students rejected their campaign,” said Malik.
Sumon Koondo, ABVP spokesperson at JU, said: “We campaigned for nationalism and have found quite a few takers. Our base is expanding.”