JNU Students' Union Election Postponed Indefinitely Citing Fear Of Violence

Citing serious security lapses and a hostile campus environment, the Election Committee announced the suspension of the election process. In a statement, the EC said, "Recent incidents of violence and vandalism targeting the Election Committee office and its members have severely disrupted the election process. Until the administration and student organizations ensure the safety of EC members, the entire process, including the release of the final candidate list, has been halted."

The announcement comes at a time when 250 nominations had been filed for School Councillor posts and 165 for Central Panel posts. Voting was planned in two shifts—9 AM to 1 PM and 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM—with counting to begin the same night and results expected by April 28. Of the 165 Central Panel nominations, 48 were for President, 41 for Vice-President, 42 for General Secretary, and 34 for Joint Secretary.

According to reports, the panel was supposed to share the final nomination list on Wednesday, but delays occurred as the list was sent to the Dean of Students' office for approval, taking time to be returned. "We were supposed to complete the nomination withdrawal process on Thursday evening, but a group of students broke the panel office windows, leading to a dispute. So, we postponed it to Friday," the source added.

Both student organizations traded blame for the disruptions leading to the postponement. The Students' Federation of India (SFI) alleged that on Thursday afternoon, during the nomination withdrawal process, "a dozen ABVP members misbehaved with students and created a ruckus," preventing some candidates from withdrawing nominations before the 4:30 PM deadline. The AISA-DSF alliance further accused ABVP members of barging into the Election Committee office and intimidating election officials.

This year's election also saw a departure from traditional alliances among Left groups. Unlike previous years, SFI did not ally with AISA, which instead partnered with DSF. SFI has not announced its Central Panel candidates.