Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 6: Student union elections for this session which began officially with nomination filing Monday kicked off on a mixed note with patches of drama on some campuses and tranquility on others in the city.
After the cancellation of the student union election at Utkal University, Rama Devi Women’s University remained the sole varsity in the city to hold the election this year. As many as 62 candidates have filed nominations including ‘dummy candidates’, according to sources.
“Dummy candidates are those who filed nominations just to increase the numbers and divide the votes. This move is very common at almost all the institutions resorted to by various groups. RD is not an exception,” said a student leader on request of anonymity.
Election fever gripped RD varsity where a huge rally was held by Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) candidates who roared into the campus with pamphlets, placards and banners. Candidates thronged the campus while the articles in their hands were thrown on the streets.
A masterstroke came from the supporters of National Students Union of India (NSUI) who started cleaning the streets, littered by BCJD candidates, citing the reason as “We don’t’ want to see our institution in a mess.”
Meanwhile, Maharishi College of Natural Law received nominations of a whooping 86 candidates both from Plus II and Plus III. As many as nine candidates filed nominations for the president’s post while five candidates each are likely to contest for the vice-president’s and general secretary’s posts.
Like past years, Maharishi College under the guard of a decent number of police personnel witnessed minor scuffles between group of students but no fatalities have been reported. The nomination process went on till 1 pm instead of the scheduled 12 noon.
“We received a huge number of nominations this year. Scrutiny of candidature will also take a long time. A valid notification of the candidate’s list will be put on Tuesday. We have asked for a good number of police personnel, no major scuffles were witnessed,” said Maharishi principal Basant Sahu.
Kamala Nehru Women’s College saw a very serene nomination day. About 50 candidates have filed nominations from both Plus II and Plus III. Four candidates each have filed nominations for the president, vice-president and general secretary posts.
“Student union elections have always been held in a peaceful manner in our state. Many candidates have filed the nominations today. We will scrutinise the nominations and come up with a valid list Tuesday,” said Kamala Nehru Women’s College principal Swapna Pani.
On the other hand despite the unsavoury incident of a bombardment recently at Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar (BJB) College here the authorities have carried out the nomination process peacefully on the campus. About 48 candidates have filed nominations of which seven are likely to contest for the president’s post.
Notably, BJB College couldn’t hold the elections last year due to some violent activities triggered inside the campus. “We cancelled the student union election last year due to some errant reasons, but this time students seem cooperative and we hope that the elections will be conducted in a peaceful manner,” said BJB College professor BP Patnaik.
Rajdhani College also received nominations from about 53 candidates for all posts. Despite such a small number of candidates, the college authorities violated the time norms and extended the process till 12:30 pm which could be concluded by 12 noon.
Rajdhani Students Federation has the largest list of candidates with nine candidates in all the categories whereas only two candidates from Congress have filed their nomination for the posts of president and general secretary. BCJD and ABVP have fielded five candidates each including candidates for the post of president.
All the institutions conducting elections this year will validate the nominations and publish a valid notice Tuesday. Candidates who want to withdraw their nominations can also approach the authorities from 2 pm to 4 pm Tuesday. The final list of candidates will come up at 5 pm Tuesday.
