JNUSU poll process set in motion, Ishita Mana appointed CEC

The election process of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students’ union has been set in motion with the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC), a woman for the first time. Besides, a poll body has been constituted.

“In a meeting convened by the JNUSU, Ishita Mana, a first-year PhD student of the School of Social Sciences (SSS), was unanimously appointed the CEC,” said Dileep Maurya, former CEC, JNUSU.

The election body, comprising the CEC and members from various schools of JNU, will on Monday meet to decide the dates of the election, which will be held in September.

The CEC’s name is proposed by the JNUSU and has to be unanimously accepted by the election body, members of which are selected in the general body meetings (GBM) of various schools in the university. 

In JNU, election, keenly contested over decades, are completely overseen and managed by students themselves. Unlike other campuses, elections here are largely peaceful and candidates do not spend huge money.

In last’s year elections, All India Students’ Federation had opened its account in the JNUSU polls, winning the president’s post, while ABVP has bagged one of the four central panel slots after a gap of 14 years.