From AMU to Jamia and beyond, students renew push for campus polls

• AMU will hold its first students’ union elections since 2018 on 5 November.

• Students at Jamia, Rajasthan University and other campuses are demanding the restoration of polls.

• Karnataka and Odisha have moved to revive campus elections after years of suspension.

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will hold students’ union elections on 5 November, the first since 2018, following weeks of sit-ins and a 19-day hunger strike by postgraduate student Yasir Fahad. The campaign has renewed demands for the restoration of campus elections at universities across the country.

In September, Karnataka ordered the revival of campus polls after nearly four decades, barring candidates from contesting under political party banners. Odisha held elections on 15 October across 13 universities and 346 colleges after an eight-year gap. Maharashtra, where campus polls have been suspended since 1993, has formed a committee to recommend a framework for their restoration.

However, students at several other institutions are still waiting for elections to return.

At Jamia Millia Islamia, where the students’ union was dissolved in 2006, students began a hunger strike on 12 October. They rejected the university administration’s assurance that elections would be held, saying key demands remained unaddressed.

Students at Rajasthan University have also held hunger strikes and demonstrations demanding a poll notification. In West Bengal, student groups say elections remain suspended at several state universities, including Jadavpur University and the University of Calcutta.

Only a few campuses, including Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), have held elections regularly. At many other institutions, polls have remained suspended for nearly two decades following the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee.

The committee was set up on the Supreme Court’s direction in 2006 to curb the influence of money and muscle power in campus politics. The Union education ministry has told Parliament that responsibility for implementing its recommendations rests with individual universities.

University authorities have often cited violence and disruption to justify suspending elections. Students, however, argue that the absence of polls removes an important channel for raising concerns about fees, hostels and academic matters.

Student unions have traditionally served as an early introduction to democratic participation, and several national political leaders began their careers in campus politics. Recent Gen Z protests at Jantar Mantar have further sharpened calls among students for an organised, elected voice.

The developments at AMU show how sustained, peaceful agitation can lead to an electoral commitment from a university administration. Whether similar campaigns prompt other institutions to restore campus polls remains to be seen.