JOIN USThe students’ union of Jawaharlal Nehru University is finally in celebration mood with the administration agreeing on Thursday to hold elections in February.
The JNUSU elections will be held for 2011-2012 academic session. The administration took this decision after the members of three JNUSU parties went on a six day-long hunger strike which ended on January 25.
Members from Student’s Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Association (AISA), All India Students Federation (AISF) took part in the hunger strike.
“There will be a meeting with the election committee regarding the exact date for the JNUSU elections. We are hopeful that the elections will be held on the last week of this month,” said Zico Dasgupta, vice president of SFI.
The JNUSU elections which should ideally take place in the month of September are going to be held in February. “The next elections for 2012-2013 academic session will be held in September this year. The party who wins in February elections will have less time in hand but at least we will have elections in the campus after a gap of four years. There are issues which only an elected student’s representative can take up with the administration,” said a member of AISA.
A senior official said the JNUSU elections are an intrinsic part of the university. “There are several clauses mentioned in the Lyngdoh Committee report which act as a pointer to hold campus elections. And even the Supreme Court order made it important for us to do it legally. We do not want the apex court to put a stay on the elections again,” the official added.
The last polls were held in October 2007. And two days before the 2008 elections, the SC put a stay on the election process citing violations of Lyngdoh's recommendations.