Want to revive JNU's political legacy: Kanhaiya Kumar

New Delhi: Newly-elected president of JNUSU, Kanhaiya Kumar of All India Students Federation (AISF) on Sunday said his priority would be to revive the varsity's political legacy and initiate movement against the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations that he said were a "big barrier" to campus politics.

Speaking after he won Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president's post by a margin of 67 votes, he told PTI, "The political process on the campus is declining. We want to revive the legacy of JNU. A big barrier to it is the Lyngdoh committee... We want to defy Lyngdoh and restore our constitution."

Earlier in the morning, results of the JNUSU polls were declared. Kanhaiya won the coveted post of president, while AISA's Shehla Rashid Shora and Rama Naga won the post of Vice President and General Secretary respectively.

ABVP, which swept DUSU polls yesterday, wrested the post of Joint Secretary.

During the oath-taking ceremony, amid the sloganeering, a minor scuffle broke out between supporters of the Left outfits and ABVP, which was quickly sorted out.

Jubilant supporters of the winning candidates celebrated by beating drums and distributing sweets. Victory marches were also taken out by the winners and their supporters.

ABVP's Saurabh Kumar Sharma, who won Joint Secretary's post, said, "Our success is a result of the hard work done by our activists. Our vote share is very high this time. This shows that students are disappointed with the ineffectiveness of Left politics."

"On two seats (Vice President and General Secretary) we came second, we gave a tough fight and lost at the last moment. In the coming year, we hope to win all of the four seats," Sharma told PTI.

"There was an anti-incumbency mood and also Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi was a big factor in our victory," said ABVP activist and a candidate for post of Councillor, Bhaskar Jyoti.