JNUSU polls 2016: Know the candidates

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union elections are underway. Here are the candidates in the fray this year:

JANHAWI OJHA of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)

A science post-graduate from Banaras Hindu University, Ojha, who is currently pursuing PhD in Parasitology (School of Life Sciences), decided to jump onto the elections bandwagon after the February 9 incident that rocked JNU. The anti-India slogans left her baffled and hurt, followed by the involvement of an AISA leader in the alleged rape of a fellow student, which is when she decided to take on such “elements” by fighting the elections. Born in Chhapra, she comes from a completely non-political background, and has held the post of cultural secretary of ABVP, JNU in the past. She “fully” understood the significance of her ideology only after joining JNU where she claims to have encountered “pseudo seculars” and “pseudo feminists”.

The key points on her manifesto are making the university a complete wi-fi zone and the struggle to strengthen Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment  (GSCASH).

SUNNY DHIMAN of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI)

Dhiman, a PhD student, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, hails from Muzaffarnagar in UP, and was earlier associated with leftist AISF in JNU. His top agenda is to defeat the nationalist RSS and its ideology, and improving hostel conditions and facilities. Dhiman was also the sole candidate to contest the GSCASH polls in 2013, which he lost.

MOHIT K PANDEY of All India Students’ Association-Students’ Federation of India (AISA-SFI) Panel

This PhD student, Centre for Media Studies (School of Social Sciences), can be credited with having the maximum exposure of students’ politics for he has been the alumna of universities that were in the news recently, including University of Hyderabad. He belongs to Lakhimpur Kheri, UP, and did his BA in Mass Communication from Lucknow University. He then moved to Bhopal for post-graduation and later to Hyderabad for his M.Phil, where his leftist leanings that were sowed in Bhopal, grew firmer roots. His main area of work will be implementing reservation in Ph.D courses, social justice and adding more teeth to the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment.  

SONPIMPLE RAHUL PUNARAM of Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA)

Studying MPhil at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Punaram has seen a hard life from early childhood. After the demise of his father who was a rickshaw puller, he started washing dishes to support his family while still in class VII. He was introduced to politics very early in life by his mother who used to take him to meetings that focused on caste discrimination after the 2006 Khairlanji massacre. He was also influenced by Ambedkarite movement during his college days in Nagpur but it was not until his post-graduation days in Tata Institute of Social Sciences that he emerged as a true blue students’ leader. His agenda talks about reducing viva-voce marks and implement deprivation points for Muslims, among other issues.

DILEEP KUMAR of Students’ Front for Swaraj (SFS)

Kumar started dabbling in politics while doing BA at Allahabad University, where he became the voice of various issues including ensuring proper distribution of scholarships to wages for karamcharis, but never sweared his allegiance to any political party. He is a PhD student, Hindi translation (School of Languages), in JNU and is also the outgoing councillor of the School of Languages. The main thrust of SFS would be implementation of minority deprivation points.