Who is Neha Bora? AISA president at the centre of anti-CEC, SIR protests in Delhi

All India Students' Association president Neha Bora has emerged as one of the prominent faces representing student activists – whether it be the paper leak protests earlier this year or the present stir against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the special intensive revision exercise of electoral rolls.

Bora is a 29-year-old PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the national president of AISA. They have been among the activists detained several times by the Delhi Police over the last week, amid the agitation against the CEC. Bora also led separate protests in the Capital over the issue, with senior advocates Prashant Bhushan and Kapil Sibal also joining them in the protest march last week.

Uttarakhand to JNU: Bora's journey

Bora, a research scholar at JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics, had always been involved in student politics on campus. Originally from Uttarakhand, they completed their undergraduate studies at Delhi University before pursuing a master’s degree at Ambedkar University Delhi, according to reports.

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According to Bora, their political views have differed sharply from their family. In an interview with Frontline, Bora said, “My family is staunch BJP supporters, and we have had very big disagreements in my house."

Bora's 23-day hunger strike amid NEET protests

Bora was among the student leaders who joined education reformer Sonam Wangchuk in an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar as part of the wider student-led protests spearheaded by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over alleged examination irregularities.

The stir eventually led to the resignation of former Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Bora had also participated in the protests in Jharkhand over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission examinations.. During the stir, an unidentified man allegedly threw ink at them, but Bora continued their agitation, saying the incident would not intimidate them.

‘Dilli Haat becomes Jantar Mantar’: AISA president's protest call

While several Cockroach Janta Party leaders and other activists were detained ahead of the October 10 agitation in Delhi, Bora gave a protest call with an alternative location as Jantar Mantar remained out of reach. “Dilli Haat becomes Jantar Mantar today! See you there!” Bora wrote in a post on X. Bora and other activists were later detained by the Delhi Police during the protest.

Bora spoke against the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site. “Taking away Jantar Mantar will not take way the resistance. All your attempts to 'denotify' democracy by denotifying Jantar Mantar will fail. The people will prevail!” they said in a post on X.

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AISA president faced several detentions over the past week

Bora has faced several police detentions over the past week amid the stir against the CEC, the latest being on Monday. Bora was detained at around 3 pm after AISA members managed to enter Connaught Place during their protest march from RK Puram.

Bora, along with other AISA members, were seen running towards Sansad Marg. They were detained in H-Block in the outer circle, roughly 1 km from the Jantar Mantar protest site. Most of them, including Neha, had been released later.