JNU student union elections which have been keenly contested over the decades have many firsts this year from the first-ever woman election commissioner to several political outfits making their debut.
"It is for the first time that a girl has been appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner for student union polls which is a good start," a JNUSU member said.
For the first time All India Students Association, the student wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and Students Federation of India (SFI) have formed an alliance for JNU polls which has been named as "Left Unity".
Students Front for Swaraj (SFS), the student wing of AAP's breakaway group Swaraj Abhiyan, has also fielded its candidates for the four crucial central panel posts in JNU for the first time.
JNUSU is the representative body of the students in the varsity. The polling is scheduled on September 9, same as that for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU). The poll pattern at JNU, however, differs from that of DU.
Besides the routine campaigning, the candidates in JNU are also supposed to make speeches about their agenda followed by a round of questions at the "Presidential debate".
The night-long event which is scheduled tonight is conducted in the style of US presidential debates and is a sought after affair and also a deciding factor for the union elections.
Last year, Left-affiliated All India Students Federation (AISF) had opened its account in the JNUSU polls winning the president's post, while RSS' student wing ABVP bagged one of four central panel slots after a gap of 14 years.
Other parties who have fielded their candidates in the JNU polls this year include ABVP, Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI), Democratic Students Federation (DSF) and Birsa Ambdekar Phule Students Association (BAPSA).
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