The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) polls were conducted on Thursday and the counting went on till late in the evening.
Trends showed that the panel being led by Atul Sood from the School of Social Sciences who was standing for president was moving towards victory.
The other panel was led by Milap Punia, also standing for president. Prof. Punia is also from the School of Social Sciences.
The teachers informed that the voter turnout was between 90% and 91%.
The Prof. Punia-led panel had fought the election “opposing the negative approach of the former representatives of the JNUTA that they have meted towards the true interests of teachers”. They had said that there had been an absence of dialogue between the administration and the JNUTA and that their panel, if elected, would raise their voice with the administration in a civil but firm manner to convince them, when necessary, on how it is vital to think about the myriad problems that teachers face.
The Prof. Sood-led panel had asked teachers to vote for them to restore the running of the university as stated by the JNU Act.
They had said that the greatest challenge that the new JNUTA would face was to resist the ongoing institutional destruction and restore the culture of dissent, discussion, deliberation and constructive consultation between the various stakeholders of the university.