JNU to hold students’ union elections on March 22 after four-year gap; all you need to know

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) elections are scheduled to take place later this month after four years.  

The previous JNUSU elections took place more than four years ago in September 2019 and the upcoming elections are scheduled for March 22, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

While announcing the schedule for the 2024-25 polls, the JNUSU Election Committee informed that the key electoral events will begin on Monday with the publication and correction of the tentative voters' list.

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On March 24, counting of votes will take place and later in the day, the results will be declared. The Election Committee suggested that any corrections to the voters' list need to be made well in advance before the filing of nominations. The panel will release a tentative voters list on March 11 following which any objections to the list will be addressed. 

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Additionally, corrections to the voters list can be made on March 12 and the correction window will remain open from 9:00 am till 5:00 pm. On Thursday, March 15, nomination forms will be issued between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm, reported TOI. The window to file nominations will open at 9:30 am and close by 5:00 pm on Friday, March 16.

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The list of valid nominations will be displayed at 9:00 am on Saturday, March 17, according to the report. Candidates can withdraw their nominations between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm on the same day following which the final list of candidates will be displayed at 3:00 pm.

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The decision to hold the JNUSU 2024 elections was taken following a long struggle by the JNUSU and the united student community.  

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The demands by the student union pressured the JNU administration to conduct these elections in accordance with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee. Following a Supreme Court order, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development had constituted the panel under JM Lyngdoh, a former chief election commissioner, to give recommendations on issues related to student bodies and student union elections conducted in universities, colleges and other higher education institutions across India. The committee submitted its report on May 26, 2006. The committee suggests that student union elections should take place within six to eight weeks from the beginning of the semester.