New Delhi: "I belong to the Orao community, a tribal community. My father works as a laborer in a rice mill, and my mother is also a laborer, supporting my higher education by transplanting paddy in others’ fields. I have been struggling to get higher education since childhood," says Vishwajeet Minji, a tribal student pursuing a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Minji is the presidential candidate from the BAPSA (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association). He says that he is the first tribal candidate for the post of President in the history of JNU.

The 25-year-old Vishwajeet Minji, hailing from a small village in Mahdebpur district of West Bengal, has persevered a lot to reach this stage. "We are not merely fighting for Social Justice, but also for Social transformation," says Minji, emphasizing BAPSA's commitment to representing the issues of the Bahujans, the oppressed, and the downtrodden.

He adds, "BAPSA represents the real voice of the campus and stands for the rights, issues, and welfare of the students. Every panel of BAPSA is inclusive at every level, representing women, SC, ST, OBC, LGBTQ, differently-abled, and religious minorities in the true sense."

"We stand against the politics of violence and Manuvadi Thinking," Minji remarks, criticizing ABVP’s politics and stating, "The condition of the Bahujans in the country is very bad and has also affected the campus. The campus is witnessing violence on a daily basis; people resort to violence for politics... we are fighting against this Manuvadi thinking and the dirty politics."

Referring to the Left forces, he adds, "I want to convey this to the Left groups that they should stop presenting themselves as our saviors; if the problem is ours, the issue is ours, then the politics should be also ours."

"BAPSA is raising the issues of the oppressed," Minji asserts. "BAPSA is talking about Oppressed Unity. The people who come from the oppressed sections, be it the Dalits, Tribals, Muslims, OBC, or anyone who has been oppressed."

Mentioning his encounters with caste-based discrimination, he says, "Even today, people have a stereotypical mindset about the Tribal community; many times people see us from a different perspective."

It is to be noted that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is holding elections after a hiatus of four years. All the prominent Student Unions have fielded their candidates. On the four central panel posts, eight candidates have been fielded for President, four for Vice-President, four for Secretary, and three candidates are contesting for Joint Secretary.

This time, the JNUSU has fielded joint candidates for the Central Panel. ABVP has declared candidates for the Central Panel and the councilor posts; the rest of the candidates are from other student outfits and independents. There are a total of 111 candidates for the 42 councilor posts.

JNU goes to the polls for the various posts of JNU Student Union. The polling for these posts will be held through a Ballot Box on 22nd March, in which 7,751 students will vote, and on 24th March, the results will be declared.

-Story Translated by Pratikshit Singh