The story so far: In the early hours of August 20, a group of activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) stormed into the campus of Jadavpur University. The activists, who were armed with batons and sticks, tore posters of the Left students’ union. The men also set the posters on fire at the entrance of Aurobindo Bhawan, the main administrative complex of the university.The dispute between the two student groups — ABVP and Left student unions — including the Students Federation of India (SFI), started on Wednesday (August 19) over a ‘general body’ meeting. The ABVP supporters claimed that the Left-wing supporters cannot call such a meeting as no student union exists at the university. No student elections have been held for the past few years in educational institutions of West Bengal.The student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also claimed that their supporters were manhandled. Several students, including ABVP’s Jadavpur University unit president Nikhil Das, were injured and later taken to KPC Hospital, Jadavpur, for treatment on Wednesday (August 19), following which ABVP supporters stormed inside the university.Also Read | Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh threatens ‘surgical strikes’ on Jadavpur University amid ABVP-SFI face-offTension prevailed around the university campus on August 20, with supporters of the right and left students’ unions gathering in large numbers. At around 2 p.m., a group of ABVP workers tried to enter the campus from gate number 4 when another group of students from SFI locked the gate and tried to resist them. The ABVP supporters climbed the entrance gate of the university and started throwing bottles, eggs, sticks, and stones, escalating the situation. An emblem of the university was also damaged as the ABVP supporters tried to climb over the gates.What is the fall out of the violence?Multiple FIRs have been registered at Jadavpur police station, including one on the complaint of university authorities. A written complaint by Jadavpur University Vice Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya stated that after 12.37 a.m. in the night a group of unknown persons/outsiders allegedly forcibly entered the Jadavpur University campus and indulged in arson, vandalism, and intimidation.Also Read | Ripples of JU clash reaches Presidency University and Midnapore College“Burning materials were allegedly thrown into Aurobindo Bhavan, where students and security personnel had taken shelter, thereby endangering their lives. University property, including CCTV cameras, gates, and installations, was also damaged, and an attempt was allegedly made to forcibly open the Main Hostel gate,” the police said, quoting the Vice Chancellor. Multiple other FIRs were registered. The University has set up a three-member inquiry committee to probe the violence. The emblem of the university that was damaged in the violence has been restored and installed at the gate.Last bastion of Left politicsJadavpur University is one of the top-rated State-run universities of West Bengal. Set up in 1955, the university is said to be a product of India’s freedom movement. Over the past few decades, the university has become a bastion of left politics. With the decline of the Left in electoral politics of West Bengal, the university remains the last bastion of the Left ideology and politics.During the Trinamool Congress regime, the ruling party also attempted to make inroads in the university but could not achieve much. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made similar attempts to make inroads into the university. After the BJP came to power in May 2026, the BJP and its allies have stepped up their efforts.During the campaign for the West Bengal Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2026 had said that anti-national stuff is being scribbled on the walls of the university and students are forced to protest on the streets instead of studying. BJP MLA from Jadavpur, Sarbari Mukherjee, was seen threatening Left student unions and said she would not allow “naxals, maoists and anti-national forces to perpetuate in the university”. The violence in the university was largely perceived as an attempt by the BJP to make inroads in the university.BJP speaking in two voicesWest Bengal Minister and senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Friday (August 21, 2026) threatened to carry out more ‘surgical strikes’ at Jadavpur University if anti-national slogans are raised in future. “The Trinamool had allowed them to perpetuate. Our people had carried out surgical strikes there. The SFI office was demolished. If anti-national movements are seen there again or slogans are raised, there will be surgical strikes again,” said Mr. Ghosh, Minister-in-Charge of Panchayat and Rural Development.However, another Minister in the Suvendu Adhikari government took a different line. Minister of Finance in the West Bengal government Swapan Dasgupta said that student agitation should not be hijacked by people who are professional politicians and added that he thinks “half the problem stems when this happens”. “And I believe this has happened in Jadavpur University with the result that everything has gone very murky,” the Minister said.How Opposition parties have reacted to the violenceThe Communist Party of India (Marxist) has tried to associate the violence at Jadavpur University with recent remarks made by the Prime Minister calling a section of people “dimagi naxal”. “A war has been declared on the students, teachers and others who are in support of education. Attempts were made to start a fire at Aurobindo Bhawan so that bhoy (fear) could be instilled among the people,” CPI(M) State secretary Md. Salim said. The Trinamool Congress faction backed by Mamata Banerjee has also criticised the ABVP supporters for forcing themselves inside the university campus.