Pandit, a former JNU student, said she used to contest elections against the Left as part of the Free Thinkers group – a “neutral” student body that is not affiliated with any political party.
In an interview with PTI editors at the agency’s headquarters, Pandit said that around 1,500 NOTA votes were cast in the recently held JNU Students’ Union elections, an act that shows that students are neither interested in the Left nor the Right. Is.
Pandit, who did his MPhil and then PhD in international politics, said that over time more political organizations like the RSS-affiliated ABVP and the Congress-backed NSUI as well as the RJD have made their presence felt on the campus, which used to be . It is completely dominated by leftist organizations.
In March, the United Left Panel of All India Students Association (AISA), Democratic Students Federation (DSF), Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Federation (AISF) jointly with BAPSA won the JNUSU elections. Defeated its nearest rival Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for the first time in history.
The Left had contested the elections together and had to support the BAPSA candidate at the last moment to prevent ABVP from coming to power.
“The Left is weakening on campus. Earlier SFI, AISF stood independently. They did not need any alliance to win the elections. They could defeat any group. I was an independent thinker at that time. We had Neither were there.” ABVP and NSUI in campus.
“Now their presence, including that of the RJD, has come to the fore and the Left needs the unity of 10-12 groups to win,” Pandit said.
“The general secretary in JNUSU was not a Left candidate. She was from BAPSA. The Left supported her to stop ABVP from coming to power. She doesn’t listen to them, she says she supported me for her own interest. This shows that the Left on campus is weakening.”
Pandit also said that there has been a lot of change in the number of students coming to JNU from different states and the number of students coming from the South has reduced significantly.
“Although the number of students has increased, at that time we were only 3,000, now we are 10,000. Earlier all states had better representation. Now the highest is Bihar, followed by Odisha and UP. There are also students from Rajasthan and Haryana. However, The number of students from the south has dropped significantly,” she said.
Asked whether it was difficult to remain objective in a Left-dominated campus due to his affiliation with the RSS, Pandit said he had better Left credentials than people on campus.
“I think everyone can have personal inclinations and we can agree to disagree. That’s the beauty of India. Similarly if you see, I was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). I think That I have better DNA than the Left. My godparents were CPI stalwarts…,” he said.
Asked whether he is liked and accepted as a “Sanghi VC” in the Left bastion, Pandit claimed “Yes, because they feel people like me can also be in the Sangh who have There is a broader, more flexible and inclusive approach.”
He further said, “I think the Left likes you when you are honest. I have never hidden my association with the RSS. I am a proud Sanghi VC, who brought the highest QS ranking to JNU.”
Pandit denied that there had been any decline in the democratic culture of the university since he took charge.
“I don’t agree that there has been a decline in freedom on campus. If that were the case, I would not have held elections. We also held teachers union elections. I think the ecosystem that was there earlier (leftist dominance) “Elections are being fought.” Now by other arrangements (presence of new political organisations) on the campus,” she said.
Asked why the university felt the need to take stringent measures to prevent protests on campus, Pandit said the move was aimed at maintaining discipline.
“When you are studying on taxpayers’ money, the taxpayers will question what kind of product I am bringing out. So students have to be critical but factually critical. You can just build brands and put anyone down They can still protest on Sabarmati Lawns,” he said.
Recalling his student days, Pandit said, “During my tenure the top Left leaders were nationalists. We are just asking students to be responsible. You cannot say anything and everything. JNU creates two confusions That everything is free and you say whatever you want and there are no consequences – both of these things do not exist outside the gates of JNU.”
Pandit, who came to JNU for the first time with “two stripes and a ribbon”, said the campus was nothing like he had seen before. “It was an eye-opener for me like many people who have not seen an urban space in their lives. The government should fund more universities like JNU at the state level.”
Left organizations have been in charge of affairs at JNU since 1969, when the campus was established.
The ABVP, currently the largest opposition student organization on campus, had a negligible presence for a long time, except for a few electoral victories.
Its star rose in 2015, when ABVP secured a seat in the central panel of JNUSU, a year after the Modi government came to power.
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Published: April 20, 2024, 06:36 PM IST
