In a historic development, the Kannur Government Medical College, Pariyaram, saw the Students Federation of India (SFI), which had maintained an undefeated record since the college was established in 1993, lose 12 of the 15 assembly seats in the elections held on Saturday. Earlier, the SFI had secured three seats unopposed.
The victory of the newly formed United Democratic Students Federation (UDSF), comprised of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), posed a serious challenge to the dominance of the SFI by student parties backed by the United Democratic Front (UDF). Since the first elections in 1996, the SFI has won every election.
Muhammad Hisham Muneer was elected chairman, with E. Amin and S. Sajita as vice-chairmen. Husnur Muneer became secretary-general and Faraz Sharif wasShibin Favaz was elected as joint secretary, magazine editor Mohammed Jasim was elected as art secretary while K Vazid and Mohammed Rasal were elected as university union councillors for undergraduate and postgraduate respectively.
SFI secured the post of Sports Secretary and also won the PG representative position for 2020. Meanwhile, UDF won the representative positions for 2021, 2022 and 2023.
KSU state vice-president P. Muhammad Shamas expressed delight over the KSU-led UDSF’s victory in the union elections. He touted the victory as a major blow to what he called the “bastion of totalitarianism” of the Left, signalling a broader trend of defeat for the Left across campuses.
Shamas emphasised that campuses like Pariyaram, which had long been controlled by the SFI through violence and intimidation tactics, were now experiencing a revitalisation of the democratic process under KSU’s leadership. He described the election results as a vindication of the students’ stand and struggle that KSU had championed, and a major reaction to the SFI’s perceived degradation into a mere administrative organ under the Left government.
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