UoH dissolves students' union, announces fresh election for 2025; NSUI calls move 'undemocratic'

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has announced that it will hold students’ union elections for the academic year 2025-26 in compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines mandated by the Supreme Court. The decision to dissolve the existing student union has drawn criticism, with the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) condemning what it called an “arbitrary and undemocratic decision”.

The university has dissolved the current students’ union 2024-25 with immediate effect and set the election process in motion. In the first step, the university will accept the nomination applications from today, September 11.

Hyderabad University will conduct the polling on September 19 from 9 am to 5 pm and the counting of votes and declaration of results will take place on September 20.

According to the Lyngdoh Committee Report on student-body elections, as accepted by the Supreme Court: “It is recommended that the entire process of elections, commencing from the date of filing of nomination papers to the date of declaration of results, including the campaign period, should not exceed 10 days.”

“It is further recommended that elections be held on a yearly basis and that the same should be held between 6 to 8 weeks from the date of commencement of the academic session.”

Classes for the current academic year commenced on July 16 and the six to eight week window notified in the guidelines fall between August 27 to September 10.

In line with this, the university issued an official notification announcing that the students union appointed for 2024-25 is being dissolved with immediate effect and a new student body will be elected for the academic year 2025-26.

“Pending constitution of the new Students’ Union, all student-welfare, representation and liaison functions shall be discharged by the Dean, Students’ Welfare and/or the Election Commission/Returning Officer designated by the University,” it said.

Also read Viral poster labels PM Modi, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath as 'We fool you'; IIT Bombay 'totally unaware

NSUI: Democratically elected body can’t be dissolved

The NSUI HCU has strongly condemned the decision and claimed that the university had earlier convened an all-party meeting wherein it was unanimously agreed that elections would be conducted only after the ongoing Union activities were concluded

The students alleged that the university had “abruptly” dissolved the Students' Union and constituted the Election Commission.

“Furthermore, as was the case last year, the University has denied the conduct of a University General Body Meeting (UGBM), thereby stripping the Students' Union of its rightful opportunity to present its work before the student community,” it said.

The students union said they were “a democratically elected representative body of the student community, not an administrative wing to be dissolved at the will of the DSW or the administration without explanation”.

They further criticized the actions and said that the decision was in direct violation of the principles of “accountability, transparency, and fairness”. Notably, the university in October had announced a similar decision.

“Such continuous undemocratic interventions reflect a blatant disregard for campus democracy and student rights. NSUI HCU firmly opposes these actions and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to protect students' rights, defend the autonomy of the Students' Union, and uphold the democratic spirit of our campus,” it added.

Also read DUSU Elections 2025: 73 valid nominations filed for four central panel posts; final list on September 11

Hyderabad University Students’ Union Poll: Dates

The UoH vice-chancellor approved the dissolution of the students' union for 2024-25 and the conduct of a new election on September 9. It has also issued the election schedule.