Stones, chaos and lathi charge: SFI-KSU election clash spills into streets in Thiruvananthapuram

Violent clashes erupt in Kerala University elections between SFI and KSU activists, leading to injuries and chaos.

The capital city turned into a battleground on Thursday as a scuffle between the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists during Kerala University senate and university union elections descended into chaos and street violence.

The confrontation, which began inside the university headquarters on the Senate House campus, soon spilled onto the adjoining streets and even extended near the MLA Hostel. Stones were hurled by the SFI activists from within the university, while the KSU members retaliated from outside. Nearly 15 protesters were injured, prompting the police to resort to a lathi charge to disperse the mob. A few activists were also injured following a related clash near Mar Ivanios College.

Tensions reportedly flared around 5.45 p.m. as vote-counting results began trickling in. The flashpoint was allegedly the victory celebrations taken out by the rival groups, leading to aggressive retaliation from either sides. Both student factions accused each other, and the police, of violence and provocation.

The scenes bore a striking resemblance to last September’s university senate election violence, though this time, the unrest breached campus walls and disrupted the city’s arterial traffic for over an hour. The traffic police were forced to manually regulate vehicle movement amid the chaos.

With rocks flying and injuries mounting, the police initially struggled to contain the violence but later managed to disperse the crowds with reinforcements. Both groups have lodged complaints accusing the police of excessive force.

The SFI emerged dominant in the university union elections as it secured key positions across the board. The SFI candidates won the posts of chairperson, general secretary and both joint secretary positions. They also bagged two out of three vice-chairperson seats, while the KSU claimed one.

In the executive committee, the SFI secured 11 seats against the KSU’s four. The accounts committee saw a similar trend as four seats went to the SFI and one to the KSU. In the students council, the SFI bagged seven seats, while the KSU managed to win three seats.