UoH students protest over delayed student union election results

Members of the Left-Ambedkarite alliance stormed the administrative building of the University of Hyderabad (HCU) around 9 am on Tuesday, September 30, blocking the Vice-Chancellor's office in protest against the withholding of results for four posts in the students' union elections.

Students affiliated with AISA, ASA, the Dalit Students Union (DSU), SFI and the Tribal Students Front (TSF) took part in the demonstration, a day after vote counting for the University of Hyderabad Students' Union (UoHSU) elections 2026-27 stretched until 4 am without a declared outcome for the Vice President, General Secretary, Sports Secretary and Cultural Secretary posts.

In a joint statement titled "Stand With Democracy. Stand With Your Vote," the alliance said no explanation had been given to the campus community for the delay. It said that when its representatives approached the Election Commission for answers, the panel had none to offer and instead deflected responsibility, saying the Vice-Chancellor would announce the results.

"Elections are the sole purview of the Election Commission, not the university administration. Dragging the VC into a student election is a direct assault on the democratic fabric of this campus. It sets a dangerous precedent where power, not votes, decides outcomes," the statement said.

The alliance alleged the delay was engineered to benefit the ABVP-SLVD panel, which it said was "trailing badly" and "scrambling for one last, rigging push to snatch what they could not win at the ballot box." It said the campus had "decisively ousted" the ABVP-SLVD panel through the vote and called on students to resist any attempt to overturn the result. "Do not let a delayed, engineered count overturn a democratic verdict. Stand united. Stand with your vote. Stand with the fairly and democratically elected representatives of this campus," the statement said, adding, "No rigging. No VC interference. No compromise. Only democracy."

The statement was issued in the name of the "Students' Union 2026-27."

The university administration and the ABVP have not yet responded to the allegations.