JNU students vote in union poll after four years

Voting for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) took place here Thursday after a gap of over four years. The results would be out March 3.

Campaigning for the poll ended Wednesday. The presidential debate took place Feb 28. Elections to the varsity students’ union were last held in 2007.

“The debate on Tuesday night was fantastic and stretched well beyond the midnight. I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Surbhi Roy, a student pursuing MA history and a first-time voter.

According to Zico Dasgupta, who contested for the president’s post as a candidate supported by the Students’ Federation of India and the All India Students’ Federation, the results would be out by Saturday.

“As the JNUSU doesn’t use electronic voting machines, manual counting of the votes takes time and they are expecting the results to be out by Friday,” Sengupta told IANS.

Names of four office-bearers and 31 other elected candidates would be announced Saturday.

The Supreme Court suspended the JNUSU elections in 2008, citing violations of the Lyngdoh Committee’s recommendations on polls for student unions in educational institutions.

On Dec 8, 2011, the apex court revoked the stay and relaxed the norms on the candidates’ eligibility and campaign.