Vote Counting Underway for JNU Students’ Union Elections

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 5th Nov: Counting of votes is underway for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections, which witnessed spirited campaigning and high enthusiasm across the campus on Tuesday. The results are expected on November 6, according to the university’s Election Committee.

This year’s polls saw a 67% voter turnout, marginally lower than the 70% recorded in the previous election and the 73% turnout in 2023–24 — the highest in the past decade. Throughout Tuesday, the JNU campus reverberated with the sound of drums, slogans, and campaign songs as students queued up to elect new representatives for the central panel and school councillor seats.

Polling began at 9 a.m. and continued till 5:30 p.m., with a break between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.. A total of 9,043 students were eligible to vote for the four central posts — president, vice-president, general secretary, and joint secretary — along with 42 councillor seats across various schools.

The electoral contest, often regarded as a microcosm of national ideological battles, is primarily between the Left Unity coalition — comprising the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), and Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) — and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

The Left bloc has fielded Aditi Mishra for president, Kizhakoot Gopika Babu for vice-president, Sunil Yadav for general secretary, and Danish Ali for joint secretary. Meanwhile, the ABVP’s panel includes Vikas Patel, Tanya Kumari, Rajeshwar Kant Dubey, and Anuj for the respective posts.

While the ABVP campaigned on themes of “performance and nationalism”, the Left bloc emphasised “inclusion, accessibility, and student welfare.” Former JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who campaigned for the Left, expressed confidence in a clean sweep, saying, “The Left Unity will win all four central panel seats.”

Voting picked up pace in the afternoon as long queues of students, including many first-time voters, formed outside polling booths.

In last year’s election, AISA’s Nitish Kumar won the president’s post, while ABVP’s Vaibhav Meena claimed the joint secretary seat — marking the right-wing student outfit’s return to the union after nearly a decade.

Counting began late on Tuesday night and continues into Wednesday, with the final results to be declared on November 6.