The polling, which began on a slow note in the first half of the day, gained momentum in the second leg as students queued up to exercise their votes
Chants of azadi and the serenading sound of daflis and 'conch shell' marked polling day for Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) polls on Friday which recorded a voter turnout of 58.69 percentage, a drop of 0.3 per cent from last year.
"The polling process went off peacefully. Of 8,045 students registered on this year's electoral roll 7,904 were declared valid. Of this 4,637 have cast their votes," said Ishita Mana of Election Commission for JNUSU polls.
As polling began at around 9:30 am, all the presidential candidates and their respective parties started taking out processions, shouting slogans and distributing pamphlets among voters in their last effort to woo their votes. The polling, which began on a slow note in the first half of the day, gained momentum in the second leg as students queued up to exercise their votes.
Members of the Visually Challenged Students' Forum in JNU were also seen assisting visually impaired students in casting their votes. The contest for the top post will be tough this year with a remarkable rise in the popularity of Ambedkarite student group Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA) at the campus this time.
Among the freshers, BAPSA's presidential candidate Shabana Ali was considered as a new "hope". "BAPSA is trying to build a new form of politics which is very hopeful," said Kaustubh Naik, a first-year MPhil student.
Former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been campaigning for AISF and its presidential candidate CPI leader D Raja's daughter Aparajitha Raja, said that there was a "lack of excitement" among students. He, however, also said that there will be neck-to-neck competition for the top post. "Students are disappointed with the outgoing union despite of their constant efforts to fight attacks on campus' democratic space," he said.
Six candidates are competing for the top post this year with three leftist groups-- All India Students Association (AISA), Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Students Federation (DSF)— fighting together this year to beat the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Meanwhile, the differently-abled, independent candidate Farooque Alam, who stole the show in this year's presidential debate on Wednesday, said, "I'm sure students will chose me over those who play identity and caste based politics at campus."
The counting for the polls began late on Friday night and the final results are expected to be announced by Sunday morning.
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