With the Free Student Union (FSU) elections less than a month away, student unions have ramped up their preparations for the polls to be held in colleges across the country.

Nepali Congress, the mother party of the Nepal Students Union (NSU), appears ahead of other political parties as a party leader, who is in charge of the student wing, has started holding meetings and discussions with the student leaders from other parties in view of the polls to be held on March 18.

The Congress formed a steering committee led by Kishor Singh Rathore, a joint general secretary of the party, and entrusted it with coordinating among NSU leaders for the FSU elections.

Rathore on Wednesday met with the Congress-affiliated student leaders who were elected FSU presidents or secretaries from various campuses in the Kathmandu valley, on Thursday.

He said the discussions were held to create an environment for holding the FSU elections and to discuss the situation of the NSU on various campuses.

As political parties have become accustomed to an alliance culture while fighting elections, people are wondering whether the student unions follow the footsteps of their mother parties. At present, the Congress and the UML are partners in the government.

“We are not considering forming any kind of alliance with another student union for the FSU polls,” said NSU President Dujang Sherpa.

Samik Badal, chair of the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (ANNFSU), a wing of the CPN-UML, gave a statement similar to Sherpa’s. Badal said that while a local unit of their organisation might ally with any other organisation based on the local situation, the central body is considering contesting the elections on its own.

The Student Welfare Council, led by Tribhuvan University Rector Khadka KC, met on January 20 to fix the election date. The meeting between the representatives of the university administration and the student unions decided to hold the election on March 18. According to the university calendar, the election was scheduled for February 27.

During the discussion with university representatives, student unions suggested holding the election in a private college and keeping the candidacy nomination fee as low as possible.

“We don’t want the candidates to be sidelined just because they cannot afford the nomination amount,” Badal said.

He added that their organisation is working on preparing the manifesto for the election.

Meanwhile, the NSU has called a meeting of all student organisations on Friday to discuss the environment for the election.

Representatives from the All Nepal National Independent Student’s Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), the student wing of the CPN (Maoist Centre), and other student unions are invited to the discussion.

“The ANNISU-R is holding an orientation for student leaders on February 17 with a view to preparing them for the polls,” said ANNISU-R chair Bijay Prakash Sapkota.

The current FSU working committee's term ends on March 15. To avoid a leadership void, the TU executive council was advised to hold the election on an earlier date.

“But, the university representatives and student leaders unanimously decided to hold the vote on March 18,” Sapkota said.

The last FSU election was held in 2023, after a gap of seven years.

The FSU elections will be held in 62 constituent and 1,040 affiliate colleges of TU across the country. The FSU has a 28-year age limit for candidates and a mixed electoral system.