Poll code ire unites JNU rivals

New Delhi, Oct. 29: Red, saffron and every other shade of political opinion have joined hands in JNU against a Supreme Court stay on the varsity’s student elections.

Gathered under an umbrella group called the Joint Struggle Committee, student organisations across the political divide today called for a review of the guidelines enforced by the Supreme Court on student polls.

The court had stayed the JNU polls, scheduled for November 3, following charges that some candidates were over the age bar and did not meet the attendance requirement. The age ceiling ranges from 22 to 28, depending on the course, and 60 per cent attendance is needed.

The guidelines are based on recommendations by former chief election commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh. JNU will get to present its arguments in the Supreme Court on December 10.

“The entire student community of JNU finds the stay disturbing. The Lyngdoh committee’s recommendations say the guidelines are to be reviewed after two years. The time has come,” Sandeep Singh, who heads the varsity’s students’ union, said. Singh is from the CPI (ML)-backed All India Students’ Association, whose partners in the panel are the Congress-supported NSUI, the BJP’s ABVP and the CPM-affiliated SFI.

The students will take their case to the President and the Chief Justice of India. The joint committee has called a JNU strike on November 3.