Allahabad Univ Elections: Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha Sweeps Polls

While the ABVP has won one seat, the SCS swept the elections by winning 4 out of 5 seats.

The student wing of the Samajwadi Party swept the Allahabad University elections; the student gathering won four out of a total of five posts – including President and Vice President. In the previous elections too, the student assembly had won the same posts.

While Avanish Yadav of SCS secured the role of President, Chandrasekhar Chaudhary has been elected as Vice President. Bharat Singh secured the post of Joint Secretary.

For the role of President, Avanish Yadav got a total of 3,226 votes, while Mrityunjay Parmar came in second with 2,674 votes, and ABVP's Priyanka secured 1,588 votes. Chandrasekhar, who was elected to the post of Vice President, got 2,249 votes, defeating Sumit Tiwari, who won 2,177 votes. Tiwari was the ABVP candidate.

ABVP secured the General Secretary post, while NSUI missed the bus completely.

Political parties had supported the student elections with full gusto. Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, for instance, handpicked a team to campaign for the candidates in the elections. Similarly, several BJP ministers and workers kept a close eye on university activities till a day before polling began.

The elections have been in the news for a few months. During the elections, several complaints came to light, including those regarding the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee which sets rules about students union elections.

The Trend in Elections So Far

For seven years, from 2005 to 2012, there were no elections at the University. For a long time, the main contest has been between the Samajwadi Party and the ABVP. In 2012, 2014 and 2017, the president of the Union has come from Samajwadi Party.

In 2015, Richa Singh, the university's first female president, won as an independent candidate. Singh enjoyed Samajwadi Party's support and later joined the party to stand in the Vidhan Sabha elections.

ABVP Emerged Strong in 2016

In 2016, an ABVP candidate became president for the first time, after a closely contested election. ABVP's Rohit Mishra defeated SP's Ajit Yadav with 95 votes. Other than this, the ABVP also won the post of joint-secretary.

Allahabad University was established on 23 September 1887, and is India's fourth oldest university.

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