The Shiv Sena-affiliated Yuv Sena on Thursday swept the Mumbai University (MU) senate polls from the Graduates’ constituency by decimating BJP’s student outfit Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Congress-backed NSUI, winning all the 10 seats.

Bucking anti-incumbency, the Aditya Thackeray-led Yuv Sena improved upon its earlier tally (8 seats) that it had won in the 2010 and walked away with all the ten seats of the senate, which is an important decision making body of the university. There were in all 68 candidates in the Graduates’ electoral college with 62,000 voters. Apart from the ABVP and NSUI, the student wing of Raj Thackeray-led MNS also bit the dust. Among the winning candidates were Shashikant Zore and Rajan Kolambkar, who were re-elected to the senate from the Graduates’ constituency.

The poll results come as a major humiliation for both the BJP and Congress which were trying desperately to gain a foothold in Mumbai. The student wings of these two parties had failed to win even a single seat in the 2010 polls as well.   

The polls held on March 25 were significant in the light of the fact that it was the first time that the elections were held under the Maharashtra Public University Act, 2016.

As per the new Maharashtra Public University Act, the senate will have 75 members, including 41 elected and 34 nominated. Nine principals and six college management representatives already won unopposed following an understanding among different panels. On March 20, the Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU) had won nine of the 10 Senate seats for teachers in the elections held on March 16.

Talking to mediapersons after Yuv Sena’s victory in the senate polls, Aditya said: “We will continue to work as humbly and hard as we have been. I would like to thank all the registered graduates who voted for us and the Shiv Sainiks who worked for the success of Yuv Sena in polls”

Asked about the challenges before Yuv Sena in the senate, Aditya said: “I do not see the challenges from the point of view of a political outfit but I would like the whole thing from the society’s point of view. See what is happening all around the place. The CBSE papers have leaked. When we used to appear for the examination, the question was how late would be the declaration of results etc. The questions before us today are whether the graduated students will get jobs or whether the courses that they studied in the graduation are beneficial for them in their lives”.

Queried as to what would be Yuv Sena’s priorities, Aditya said: “Our first priority is to have a good Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, registrar and controller of examinations. Our other equally important priority is to implement the students’ charter which involves things like clean canteen, clean bathroom and clean campus.

Aditya has consistently been taking up issues of the Mumbai university students with the Governor, who is the Chancellor of Mumbai University, and the Maharashtra government over the last few years.

last year, the Yuva Sena had repeatedly knocked the doors of the Governor and the Maharashtra government over the delay in the declaration of Mumbai University’s examination results which were delayed more than three months. He had even sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai University’s new Senate will meet on March 30 and 31.