Aditi Mishra of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) has been elected as the new President of JNUSU. Other key positions were also secured by Left-affiliated candidates: Gopika Babu (SFI) as Vice President, Sunil Yadav (DSF) as General Secretary, and Danish Ali (AISA) as Joint Secretary.
Aditi Mishra, currently pursuing her doctorate on gender violence and women’s resistance in Uttar Pradesh since 2012, has a long-standing record of activism.
From BHU to JNU: Aditi’s Activism Journey
Mishra first rose to prominence during the 2017 protests at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) after a female student alleged molestation on campus. She, then an undergraduate in economics, actively participated in protests demanding gender equality and the removal of curfews on female students. The slogan “We don’t want security, we want equality” became a rallying cry nationwide. The protests ended violently after police intervention, with several students injured.
In 2018, during her Master’s at Pondicherry University, Aditi protested against the “saffronisation” of campus, opposing communal displays and participating in the gherao of the Vice-Chancellor’s office.
In 2024, she was elected as a PhD representative to JNU’s Internal Committee (IC), working to make it more inclusive by reserving a seat for students of all gender identities—a move praised for advancing gender sensitisation.
JNUSU Elections: Left Unity Retains Dominance
Voting for JNUSU took place on November 4, with counting conducted the same night. Twenty candidates contested the four main posts. In her inaugural speech, Aditi asserted a firm stance against discrimination and caste-based violence, declaring, “In JNU, it’s not Baba’s rule, it’s Babasaheb’s rule.”
Left Unity has dominated JNU student politics since 1975, with notable leaders including Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, and Kanhaiya Kumar. Recent JNUSU presidents include Aishe Ghosh (SFI), Ek Sai Balaji (AISA), and Mohit Pandey (AISA), continuing the tradition of Left-aligned leadership at the university.
