Delhi: 70% turnout in JNUSU polls, results on April 28

Polling for the delayed Jawaharlal Nehru University’s student union (JNUSU) elections was finally held on Friday, drawing curtains on the high-octane contest this year.

Friday saw a voter turnout of around 70%, according to the student election committee (EC). The voting took place in two phases, from 9am to 1pm and then from 2.30pm to 5.30pm during which students cast their votes at 17 polling booths set up across the campus.

The results are scheduled to be declared on April 28, following which one president, one vice-president, one general secretary and one joint secretary will be elected for the central panel, while 44 councillors will be elected for the various schools under JNU .

This year, the process of the student union election, usually held in March,witnessed several hurdles, including the fracture of the long-standing unity of the Left. This led to the All India Students’ Association (AISA) allying with the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), while the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA), All India Students Federation (AISF), and Progressive Students’ Association (PSA) have fielded separate candidates.

The AISA-DSF alliance has put forth Nitish Kumar for president, Manisha for vice-president, Munteha Fatima for general secretary, and Naresh Kumar for joint secretary. Meanwhile, the SFI-BAPSA-AISF-PSA bloc has nominated Choudhary Tayyaba Ahmed as their candidate for president, Santosh Kumar for vice-president, Ramniwas Gurjar for general secretary, and Nigam Kumari for joint secretary.

Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has put forth a full panel of candidates, comprising of Shikha Swaraj for president, Nittu Goutham for vice-president, Kunal Rai for general secretary, and Vaibhav Meena for joint secretary.

The divide among the Left parties has, however, left several students confused about the outcome of the elections this year.

Rani Kumari, a final year master’s student from the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies (SLL&CS), said, “Usually the Left has a very strong chance in the JNU elections but this time, due to the fractured union, some votes might get diverted to ABVP. It is hard to say at this point.”

Another student from the School of Social Sciences (who wants to stay anonymous), meanwhile, said that a change might be welcome on campus.

She added, “There were some lapses this time. School general body meetings did not happen and I have witnessed five elections here myself, but I felt that the conduct of the previous elections was much more democratic. People used to listen intently to all the candidates, but now we have more showmanship and nuisance courtesy of certain parties.”

Meanwhile, others, like Dhathri, a PhD student from SSS, said that AISA had brought about changes in the campus in the one year that they were part of JNUSU.

“They have helped open the Barak hostel which had been closed for years, they stopped several of the proctorial enquiries against students and always stood up for students. Even though the campus is filled with mixed feelings right now, I believe AISA-DSF has a good chance.,” she said.