JNUSU poll: Vote counting stalled after ABVP protest

New Delhi: Counting of votes for the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) polls was suspended on Saturday by election authorities citing “forcible entry” and “attempts to snatch away ballot boxes” at a counting venue after ABVP staged protests claiming it was not informed about the start of the process.

 The counting, which was suspended at 4 am, resumed at 6.30 pm after two teachers from the Grievance Redressal Cell were appointed as observers for the exercise, officials said.

The Election Committee issued a statement saying it had made an announcement for counting agents to come and was following the rules.

However, the deadlock at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) persisted even after 12 hours, with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing the election authorities of bias towards the Left outfits and threatening to move court.

“The counting process, which began on September 14 at 10 pm was  suspended due to forcible entry into the counting venue and attempts to snatch away the sealed ballot boxes as well as ballot papers from our counting centres,” the JNU Election Committee said in the statement.

“A malicious lie is being spread on social media and among students that the Election Committee had not made three announcements and went forth with the entry of the counting agents for post of Central Panel for combined schools and Special Centres,” it said.

This comes two days after technical glitches in EVMs had marred the counting process for Delhi University Students’ Union polls on Thursday.

Denying the ABVP’s allegations, it said that the Election Committee “would like to clearly state three announcement calls were made  (with the third call announced as the last and final call) and communicated to the students gathered outside the counting venue) via loudspeaker”. “After that, the election committee members informed the security guards about it and asked them to gather any counting agents. Fourteen counting agents for 10 different candidates had reported at the counting venue. After which counting process had started and sealed boxes were opened in the presence of the counting agents,” it said. As per the established norms, no new counting agents can enter the counting venue, once the seal of the boxes is opened. “Election Committee (EC) had to reject the request of new counting agents being allowed inside that respective counting venue. Few students had forcibly entered the building and reached the counting venue, thus we had to suspend the counting process,” it said.

Vijay Kumar, ABVP president of JNU, however, said their counting agent was not called and the counting process was initiated in front of the members of the Left outfit.