Ambedkarite-Left Alliance Sweeps HCU Student Union Polls, University Gets its First Dalit Queer President

In the recently concluded Hyderabad Central University (HCU) elections, the Left-Ambedkarties alliance swept the Student Union polls for 2022-23.

The alliance of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the Ambedkar Students' Association, and the Dalit Students' Union (DSU) won all nine posts of the central panel in the elections held on February 24.

A turnout of 76% was recorded among over 5,000 students eligible to vote.

In the history of HCU, this was the first time that two LGBTQ students won their respective elections.

Prajwal Gaikwad, a dalit queer, was elected as the union president, winning 1,838 votes. At the same time, Hritik Laxman Lalan, a dalit transgender woman, emerged victorious in the ICC-GSCASH elections. Both students come from the Left-Ambedkarite alliance.

It was the first student union election since the pandemic in over three and a half years.

The ASA-SFI-DSU alliance was against the ABVP-OBSF-SLVD (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Other Backward Classes Federation, and the Sevalal Vidyathi Dal) alliance.

In an interview with The Indian Express before the elections, Gaikwad, a PhD student, had said if elected, they would work to decrease the gap between students and administration.

"There is a bureaucratic lag whenever a student has any work with the administration. This is undignified and drags on for days and months. We want to bring a single window system that will facilitate a student's interaction with the administration. We would also work on the changing demographic and encourage first-generation learners and preference to the local Telugu populace," Gaikwad had said.

Gaikwad also emphasised the importance of these elections, highlighting how "for the first time, six dalits including a dalit queer person and a dalit transgender woman, a Christian man, and a tribal woman" contested for nine central panel posts.

Pruthvi Sai defeated his ABVP-OSCF-SLVD counterpart by 707 votes for the post of Vice-President. Kripa Maria George was elected as General Secretary with 2076 votes, and Kathi Ganesh secured the post of Joint Secretary with 1678 votes.

Likhith Kumar emerged victorious for the post of Cultural Secretary with 1789 votes, while CH Jayaraj won the post of Sports Secretary with 1644 votes.

The third alliance in the fray, comprising the Bahujan Students Front, Fraternity Movement, Muslim Students Federation-National Students Union of India, and Tribal Students Forum, ended up in the third position in all seats.