In a first, woman to head election panel

New Delhi: This year’s JNU Students Union (JNUSU) polls will be conducted by a woman for the first time. Ishita Manna, a first-year PhD scholar who has been appointed the chief election commissioner for the September elections, will take charge on Monday and issue the schedule for the process starting with the nominations.
“I am happy. I have been associated with the JNUSU poll process as an election committee member for the past four years,” said Manna, a student of School of Social Sciences.
Manna was chosen unanimously at a JNUSU meeting, said Dileep Maurya, who conducted the 2015-16 polls. Saurabh Kumar Sharma, the present joint secretary, said ABVP would support her throughout the process.
The dates for the 2016-17 polls are scheduled to be declared on Monday. The elections are likely to be scheduled on September 9 when the Delhi University polls will also be held. The JNUSU polls are conducted by students with no interference from the administration and have remained largely violence free. Unlike other university polls, the JNU polls are free of money and muscle power.
The students also use only hand-made posters during the campaign. All these features and the JNU constitution had prompted the Lyngdoh Committee on student union polls to cite it as an example.