Who is Dhananjay, first Dalit president of JNU Students’ Union since 1996?
A united Left won all the four seats in the JNU Students’ Union election that was being held after a gap of four years
Dhananjay is a PhD student from the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. | Photo: X screengrab
Celebrations broke out on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi early morning on Monday (March 25) after a united Left won all the four seats in the JNU Students’ Union Election that was being held after a gap of four years.
Dhananjay from the All India Students’ Association (AISA) became the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) by defeating his nearest rival Umesh C Ajmeera of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The other student leaders who emerged victorious were Avijit Ghosh of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) as the vice-president, Priyanshi Arya of Left-supported Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) as the general secretary, and Mohammad Sajid of the Left as the joint secretary.
Who is Dhananjay?
* Dhananjay is a PhD student from the School of Arts and Aesthetics at the university.
* He hails from Gaya in Bihar.
* He is the first Dalit president of JNUSU from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa in 1996-97.
* Dhananjay won the president’s post by 922 votes.
* His core agenda as the president of the students’ union will be the safety of women on campus, water and infrastructural crises, hike in scholarships, and fund cuts.
* After his victory, he said that the result of the polls is a referendum by the students against the politics of hate and violence.
* “If there is anyone who has fought against fee hike, it is the Left. It is the Left that has ensured a hostel for all, and for that, the students have shown their trust in us,” said Dhananjay.