JNU student union elections likely in late April, say student leaders

NEW DELHI : Student leaders at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said on Tuesday that the student union elections at the university are expected to take place in the last week of April. This comes after the Dean of Students (DoS), Manuradha Chaudhary, confirmed in a letter to the JNUSU General Secretary that the outgoing students’ union could conduct the University General Body Meeting (UGBM) to select members for the Election Committee.

The university also announced the formation of a Grievance Redressal Cell (GRC) to oversee election-related complaints and ensure adherence to the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations. Earlier in the day, the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) met with the DoS regarding the conduct of elections and hostel allotments.

In a statement, the ABVP claimed that the DoS assured them that Barak Hostel would be allotted to students from the first week of April, although mess and Wi-Fi facilities would be unavailable initially. ABVP also stated that their push led to the immediate issuance of the election notification. Reacting to the development, JNUSU President and AISA leader Dhananjay accused the administration of favouritism. “We have been protesting in the DoS office for ten days to get the election notification released, yet the administration met ABVP before issuing it. This exposes the nexus between ABVP and the university,” he told PTI.

Regarding the possibility of a united front against ABVP, Dhananjay said discussions were ongoing among Left-affiliated student groups like AISA, AISF, and SFI. Both JNUSU President Dhananjay and ABVP’s Rajeshwar Kant Dubey confirmed that elections would take place in the last week of April after various departments (schools) conduct their General Body Meetings to nominate representatives for the 50-member Election Commission. The JNUSU elections, a crucial event in JNU’s student politics, are expected to be a high-stakes contest between the Left and ABVP, with campus dynamics shaping up for a heated electoral battle.