Shehla Rashid talks about student elections in JNU

If one had to pick a year from Jawaharlal Nehru Student Union’s (JNUSU) recent history for making an impact upon on national politics, this current electoral term would definitely come on top. In last 12 months, students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (including the JNUSU president, Kanhaiya Kumar) were put behind bars, labelled anti-nationals and slapped with sedition charges.

Shehla Rashid Shora, JNUSU vice-president, has been at the centre of all these controversies – often leading the struggles and protests, on and off campus. She doesn’t hesitate from accepting criticism and the need to introspect. For instance she told Newslaundry candidly, “The Left needs to programmatically engage with the Bahujan discourse and needs to incorporate all the criticism in its leadership.”

With JNUSU elections a week away, she also spoke about on the increasingly visible influence of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), especially among freshers on campus. “The vote division among the Left has allowed the Right-wing to seep in,” she admitted.

Watch her interview here: