Student Politics
From SFI bastion to ABVP sweep: What happened at Kerala's Tripunithura college?
Thiruvananthapuram/IBNS: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has swept the Tripunithura Government Sanskrit College Union elections, securing all 12 general seats, media reports said.
The result marks a major change at a college that has long been regarded as a stronghold of the Students' Federation of India (SFI).
ABVP sweeps all 12 seats
ABVP candidates secured all 12 general positions after candidates from other student organisations did not contest the election, according to reports.
The development ends the SFI's long-standing control of the campus union. Reports have variously described the period of SFI dominance as more than three decades or around 40 years.
ABVP had also made gains at the college in the previous union election, making this year's complete sweep a further expansion of its presence on the campus.
A new chapter begins as ABVP breaks SFI’s 40-year-old bastion in Kerala!
— ABVP (@ABVPVoice) September 21, 2026
A historic breakthrough at Government Sanskrit College, Tripunithura, as ABVP sweeps all 12 seats, ending SFI’s four decades hold over the campus.
This victory is more than a number. It is the result of… pic.twitter.com/v4jK8GtphI
Why SFI did not contest
ABVP Kerala state secretary Yadhu Krishnan told The Times of India that SFI had won at the campus for around four decades but could not field candidates this year after the nomination process ended on September 18.
SFI Ernakulam district secretary Asish S Anand, however, attributed the situation to a decline in student enrolment following the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily reported.
He said the college currently has fewer than 100 students and was facing the prospect of closure.
ABVP's allegations against previous union
Following the election, ABVP described the result as a rejection of what it called the previous SFI-led union's "anti-student policies".
The organisation alleged that the previous union had not done enough to promote Sanskrit-related activities, questioned the utilisation of student funds and claimed that an adequate number of programmes had not been organised.
These are allegations made by ABVP and have not been independently established.
Key office-bearers
Among the ABVP candidates reported elected to key positions are:
Chairperson: Snigdha M Hari
Vice-Chairperson: Aditya T A
General Secretary: Vignesh Bhatt
Magazine Editor: Vignesh D
Arts Club Secretary: Anjali T
University Union Councillor: Nivedya K N
Second UG Representative: Shivani R
Second PG Representative: Avani C B
Comes amid BJP's municipal gain
The college election comes against the backdrop of a political change in Tripunithura's municipal politics.
The BJP emerged as the single-largest party in the 2025 Tripunithura municipal elections with 21 of the 53 seats, ahead of the LDF's 20 and the UDF's 12.
The BJP subsequently secured the chairperson and vice-chairperson posts, marking its first time leading the municipality.
The college union election and the municipal election are separate contests, and the former should not be treated as a direct measure of wider electoral preferences.
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