Voting has concluded at Jawaharlal Nehru College for the 2024’25 College students’ Union elections with voter turnout estimated to be round 70 per cent.
JNU administrative constructing.(HT file)
In response to the JNU College students’ Union Election Committee, greater than 69.6 per cent of scholars got here out to vote. Nevertheless, it was barely down from 73 per cent recorded in 2023. However nonetheless marks the very best turnout from 2012’13 to 2023’24.
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Round 5,500 college students out of seven,906 eligible voters forged their ballots.
Polling was held in two periods, from 9 am to 1 pm and from 2:30 pm to five:30 pm, at 17 centres throughout the campus.
Voting was largely peaceable, though some delays have been reported, significantly on the College of Language centre the place polling began late on account of lacking names of two counsellors on the poll paper.
Voting at that centre started solely at 11 am, whereas different centres noticed delays of round half an hour.
College students had gathered on the cubicles since morning and expressed disappointment over the delays which have been additional aggravated by the rising temperatures. Because of these delays, voting continued at some centres till 8 pm.
4 centres have been arrange within the College of Language, College of Social Sciences 1 and a couple of, and the College of Worldwide Research.
Some individuals with disabilities (PWD) college students alleged an absence of correct preparations, saying they needed to spend further time casting their votes.
A number of first-year college students who have been first-time voters additionally complained of pending hostel allotments and insufficient services.
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“We joined in last September but till now we have not been allotted a hostel and there are no facilities of library etc,” a first-year pupil from Chinese language Language informed PTI.
Different college students raised issues concerning the recurring nature of points listed in manifestos.
“For the last four years, I have seen the same issues in the manifestos of the left groups. They come to power but do not resolve them and this year too they have the same problems listed in their manifestos,” mentioned PhD pupil Satyam.
Many northeast college students rallied behind their candidate Yari, who’s contesting for the put up of basic secretary. They alleged continued neglect by mainstream pupil teams.
“We are contesting ourselves because no other group listens to our problems. Like, we are not being provided northeast food in the mess even after many requests. We are contesting so that we can give voice to our problems ourselves,” mentioned one of many pupil supporters.
This yr’s elections noticed important realignments. The long-standing United Left has splintered. The All India College students’ Affiliation (AISA) allied with the Democratic College students’ Federation (DSF), whereas the College students’ Federation of India (SFI) joined fingers with the Birsa Ambedkar Phule College students’ Affiliation (BAPSA), All India College students’ Federation (AISF), and Progressive College students’ Affiliation (PSA) to kind a separate bloc.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has fielded a full panel comprising Shikha Swaraj for president, Nittu Goutham for vice-president, Kunal Rai for basic secretary, and Vaibhav Meena for joint secretary.
The AISA-DSF alliance has nominated Nitish Kumar for president, Manisha for vice-president, Munteha Fatima for basic secretary, and Naresh Kumar for joint secretary. In the meantime, the SFI-BAPSA-AISF-PSA bloc has put ahead Choudhary Tayyaba Ahmed for president, Santosh Kumar for vice-president, Ramniwas Gurjar for basic secretary, and Nigam Kumar for joint secretary.
In complete, 29 candidates are contesting for the central panel posts of president, vice-president, basic secretary, and joint secretary.
Round 200 candidates are within the fray for 42 counsellor posts. The counting of votes started late Friday night time, with outcomes for counsellor posts anticipated to be declared first. Ultimate outcomes are prone to be launched on Monday, April 28.
Through the polling day, the campus got here alive with the vibrancy of pupil democracy. Supporters of varied pupil organisations and unbiased candidates took out processions with drums and slogans, distributing slips with candidate names to these standing in queues.
Candidates and their supporters moved from one centre to a different, urging college students to vote. Regardless of the charged ambiance, no clashes have been reported.
With the left bloc divided, ABVP is optimistic about its possibilities this yr.
The organisation has not received a central panel put up since 2015’16. All main teams are claiming victory, however the ultimate outcomes will decide who secures management of the scholars’ union.