‘As A Research University, We Have To Conduct Elections As Per Rules’: JNU VC On JNUSU Polls

JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit has said that as per rules, the student union elections in the university should be conducted once the PhD admissions are over.

Amid rising demands from student bodies to hold student union elections, JNU VC Shantishree Dhulipudi has said that JNU is a research university and they need to conduct elections as per rules. The VC cited the Student Union’s Constitution and the Lyngdoh committee report in her statement.  

“Because we are a research university as per the constitution of the student's union and as per the Lyngdoh committee report that has been given to us by the Supreme Court, we have to take the elections when all the students take admission. After the PhD students come in as per the rules we have to conduct. We are ready to do it but we have to take legal opinion," she was reported as saying by news agency ANI.

The statement from the JNU Vice Chancellor comes in the backdrop of intensifying demand from various student bodies to conduct the JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union) Election 2023. Notably, it’s been three years since the conduct of the Students Union Election in prominent central universities like JNU and Delhi University. 

While the DUSU (Delhi University Students Union) Elections are slated to be held this month, JNU students have been demanding that why can’t JNUSU Elections be conducted on similar lines. Usually held around this time of the year, the JNU Administration is yet to make any announcement on the elections. Students fear that the elections might be postponed this year as well. 

As per a New Indian Express report, the incumbent JNUSU wrote a letter to the Dean of Students last week, stressing upon timely completion of the admission process in the university and the facilitation of students union elections in the campus. The communication was reported underlining the student union’s concerns on the sidelining of the JNUSU elections, despite the subsiding of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Notably, both the right as well as left-leaning student bodies of the JNU have been pushing on conducting the JNUSU elections, and have expressed that the elections are being deliberately looked over by the administration. Earlier in April this year, the DSF (Democratic Students Federation (DSF) launched a signature campaign demanding the Vice Chancellor to conduct the JNUSU elections. 

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