JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh gets CPI(M) ticket for Bengal polls; will contest from Jamuria

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh, who made headlines in January last year during massive protests and campus violence amid the larger anti-CAA protest, will be contesting the West Bengal assembly elections on a CPI(M) ticket, as part of the latter's alliance with the Congress party.

A member of CPI(M)'s Students Federation of India (SFI), Ghosh (26) will contest from Jamuria Legislative Assembly Seat in Burdwan district of West Bengal. She hails from the district’s Durgapur city.

Aishe Ghosh and JNU violence

Ghosh becomes the first sitting JNUSU president to contest assembly elections. A graduate from Delhi's Daulat Ram College, Ghosh has been involved in student politics from her college days. She gained prominence after the January 5 JNU violence when she received injuries on her head and hand. Ghosh had led student protests demanding justice and action against those behind the incident, even as allegations surfaced over her own role.

She hails from a family of Leftists. Her father Debasish Ghosh, who works at Damodar Valley Corporation has been associated with the Centre of Trade Unions - the labour wing of CPI(M).

For the first time, Bengal CPI(M) has fielded several young leaders alongside veterans in a crucial assembly poll. The party's other youth leaders include SFI state secretary Srijan Bhattacharjee who will contest from Hooghly district’s Singur seat - which is a tough challenge for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). 

CPI(M) has fielded Minakshi Mukherjee, state president of the party’s youth front in Nandigram, where she will fight against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. The seat was a former stronghold of the Left.