The election process of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has been set in motion with the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner, a woman for the first time, along with constitution of a poll body.
“In a meeting convened by the JNUSU, Ishita Mana, a first year PhD student of the School of Social Sciences (SSS) was unanimously appointed as the chief election commissioner (CEC),” former CEC for JNU polls, Dileep Maurya said. This is a first time that a woman CEC has been elected.
The election body, comprising the CEC along with members from various schools of JNU, will soon meet to decide the dates of the election, which may be held in September. The name of the CEC is proposed by the JNUSU and has to be unanimously accepted by the election body, members of which are selected in the general body meetings (GBM) of various schools in the varsity.
JNUSU is the representative body of the students in the university. The polls have been keenly contested over decades. last year, CPI’s student wing All India Students Federation (AISF) had opened its account in the JNUSU polls winning the president’s post, while ABVP has bagged one of four central panel slots after a gap of 14 years.
This year, the JNUSU has decided to abide by the lyngdoh committee recommendations. Over-riding the resolutions of the two previous General Body meetings held in December 2015 and March 2016, where it was decided that the JNUSU polls will be conducted as per the university constitution and not as per lyngdoh panel’s recommendations, the students recently resolved to continue with the present arrangements.