Left groups boycott classes at JNU, demand student body polls

Since the academic session began on August 16, student outfits have been demanding the holding of the Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) poll.

October 12, 2023 05:21 am | Updated 02:00 pm IST - New Delhi

The student body poll has not been held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University since 2019.

The student body poll has not been held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University since 2019. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Several students belonging to the Left groups on Wednesday boycotted their classes at Jawaharlal Nehru University, demanding the election to the university’s student body at the earliest.

Since the academic session began on August 16, student outfits have been demanding the holding of the Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) poll.

On the other hand, the administration has said the election will be held only in January after the PhD admission process concludes.

The JNUSU election was last held in 2019. It could not be held in subsequent years because of the Covid lockdown and then due to a differential academic calendar for BA, MA and PhD students.

On Wednesday, while students from the various Left groups participated in the boycott, those from the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) stayed away from from protest.

ABVP leaders said they do not stand for the boycott of academic activities.

Meanwhile, a student leader belonging to a Left group said they had met the vice-chancellor over the issue and the administration has sought another week to furnish an update on the election.

“We look at this as a delaying tactic in order to not hold the election,” the student leader alleged.

Representatives of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) alleged that the student body is under attacked from the JNU administration.

The outfit said the JNUSU has ensured a vibrant culture of debate and discussion besides the safety of women on campus and cheap education. This is the reason that it is under attack, the outfit alleged.

“In order to restore these progressive policies and to fight for a better campus, a newly elected students’ union is the need of the hour,” the AISA said. 

Earlier, the Delhi University Students’ Union polls were conducted in September this year after a gap of four years.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.