Late night clash between ABVP, DSF disrupts JNU ahead of polls

Tensions erupted into violence late night on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus as two rival student organizations clashed just before elections.

Video footage shows members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and leftist student groups engaged in a brutal fight, with ABVP's Kanhaiya Kumar seen physically assaulting other students and workers.

According to the Democratic Students' Federation (DSF), the brawl broke out right after their General Body Meeting ended and an EC member was elected. They allege that Kumar and his associates attacked DSF members unprovoked.

Police and campus security were informed and reached the spot to control the situation.

This latest incident has again brought to fore the long-standing tensions between ideologically opposed student organizations in JNU ahead of campus elections. The university has witnessed similar late night scuffles in the past around election time.

Authorities have appealed for restoring peace and requested cooperation from all student groups to enable smooth conduct of the electoral process. But the fresh violence has created uncertainty if polls can pass off without more untoward incidents, given the charged atmosphere on campus.