As Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) gears up for its student elections scheduled on April 25, it has received 250 nominations for the post of school councillor and 165 for the four central panel posts of the university Students’ Union (JNUSU). According to the election committee, scrutiny and withdrawal of names will take place on Wednesday, following which the final list of candidates will be released.
Voting will be conducted in two phases — from 9 am to 1 pm and from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm — with counting set to begin at 9 pm the same day. The results are expected by April 28.
Of the 165 nominations for the central panel, 48 are for the post of president, 41 for vice-president, 42 for general secretary, and 34 for joint secretary.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) announced a list of nine probable candidates who have filed their nominations for the central panel. This includes Thite Shambhavi Pramod, Anuj Damara, Kunal Rai, and others. The final four names will be declared after scrutiny. The group has also launched an outreach across the hostels and classrooms on the campus.
Meanwhile, JNUSU president Dhananjay said discussions among Left-backed organisations are still underway and the names of their candidates will be finalised by Wednesday.
Ahead of the elections, school-level general body meetings (GBM) will begin on April 17, while the university-wide GBM will be held on April 22, and the presidential debate is slated for April 23. April 24 will be observed as ‘No Campaign Day’.
The JNUSU elections are being held for the second consecutive year after a four-year hiatus. In the previous election, the United Left panel — comprising the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) — won three of the four central posts, while the general secretary’s post went to a candidate from the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA), backed by the Left alliance.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd