A united front comprising of Left, Dalit and Muslim student groups emerged victorious in the students’ union elections in the University of Hyderabad. In the results announced on Friday night, the Alliance for Social Justice (ASJ) won all the important posts including that of the president. Sreerag Poickadan, a doctoral researcher belonging to Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), was elected as the president for a period of one year. He won with a majority of more than 150 votes, defeating ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad) candidate. NSUI (National Students Union of India) finished third.
Other winning members of the alliance are Arif Ahammed (general secretary), Muhammed Aashique (joint secretary), L. Sravan Kumar (sports secretary), Gundeti Abhishek (cultural secretary). Though Lunavath Naresh got majority of the votes for the post of vice president, the result has been put on hold as a complaint against him is pending with the grievance committee.
The seven student groups which have put up a unified fight under the banner of ASJ are Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), Students Federation of India (SFI), Dalit Students Union (DSU), Tribal Student Federation (TSF), Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV), Muslim Students Federation (MSF) and SIO (Students Islamic Organisation).
The alliance also earned a significant representation in the Gender Sensitivity Complaint Against Sexual Harassment (GCASH) committee.
The ABVP fought the election with the support of OBC student groups but it did not yield the desired results.
As soon as the results were announced, celebrations began in the campus. Many also resorted to sloganeering in support of Rohith Vemula, a Ph.D student whose suicide inside the campus triggered protests across the country.
