Who Is Nitish Kumar? The JNUSU President Who Won Neck-And-Neck Battle For Top Post
Nitish Kumar, a 26-year-old PhD student, has been elected as the new president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU).
Nitish Kumar, a 26-year-old third-year PhD student at the Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, has been elected the new president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). His political journey is deeply intertwined with the struggles of India’s marginalised communities, shaped by his upbringing in a modest OBC family in Bihar’s Araria district.
Raised amid the agricultural hardships of rural India, with a farmer father and homemaker mother, Kumar’s early years at Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir in Forbesganj exposed him to the realities of communalism in educational spaces, setting him on a path of activism. Backed by the United Left panel, which describes him as a leader who “carries with him the lived experiences of India’s oppressed communities,” Kumar brings a grounded, grassroots perspective to one of the country’s most politically vibrant campuses.
Nitish Kumar Led ‘Reopen JNU’ Campaign In 2021
Kumar completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) before enrolling at JNU in 2020 for a Master’s programme. His entry coincided with what his party described as “one of the toughest phases for public education in India” — the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath — during which the JNU administration was accused of systematically sidelining students from marginalised backgrounds through extended campus shutdowns.
During this period, Kumar became a prominent face of student activism, notably spearheading the ‘Reopen JNU’ campaign in 2021, which rallied students from various departments to press for the resumption of offline classes and hostel facilities. In August 2023, he staged a 16-day hunger strike to highlight the severe hostel shortage — a protest that became a defining moment for student mobilisation at JNU.
As Secretary of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) JNU unit, Kumar also led initiatives demanding increased fellowship grants, the restoration of entrance examinations, and resisting politically motivated faculty appointments.
Speaking about the growing presence of the ABVP on campus, Kumar remarked, “The last time the ABVP secured a place on the panel in 2015-16, JNU was branded with an anti-national image. As a union, we are determined not to let history repeat itself.”
In an interview with PTI, he added, “This is a victory of the mandate against a government that has been trying to destroy the campus. It’s a mandate against the current government’s policies. We are witnessing how funds are being slashed and infrastructure is being ruined at JNU. This is a strong message against such destructive policies. The government should stop these actions and start giving JNU what it rightfully deserves.”
The JNUSU election commission announced the results early on Monday, declaring Nitish Kumar of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) as the new president with 1,702 votes. His nearest rival, Shikha Swaraj of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), secured 1,430 votes, while Tayabba Ahmed, backed by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), received 918 votes.
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