Bhubaneswar: Violence has forced cancellation of student union elections in 35 colleges and 5 major universities of the state robbing the annual campus activity of much of its charm. BJB College and Ramadevi Women University are few of the institutions where the elections are on course and students are immersed in it.
At Ramadevi, BCJD candidate Swikruti Mishra and ABVP candidate Ipsita Tripathy are contesting the elections for the president’s post and leaving no stone unturned to woo the student voters.
In BJB College, Sairanjan Behera, Sonu Badaik and Soumitri Batsal Dash are contesting for the president’s post.
Swikruti Mishra and her team are doing every bit to woo voters – from running a campaign on the social media to offering them treats.
Talking to Orissa POST, Swikruti said she and her team were using the social media to share their ideas and thoughts with the students. “As only a few days are left for the ‘What I stand for,’ we are also campaigning till 10pm at the college hostels and coaching institutes. We also organised a bike rally where we showcased the strong and bold women personality,” she said.
Ruing the violence, she said that the elections should be fought in a friendly way and must be used as a platform for solving the problems of the students.
Ipsita Tripathy, too, is depending on social media to reach out to the voters. “Today’s youth are more connected to social media and it thus is the best medium to connect with them,” she said.
To Sairanjan Behera, the elections are important as these help in understanding the problems of the students and the exercise throws up leaders who can take up their issues with the authorities. “Whoever wins must work for welfare of the students,” he said.
Soumitri Batsal Dash said that this year the students were determined to keep trouble away as that could have led to the college being closed sine die. He said violence on college premises happens when unauthorised people or outsiders intrude and create a tense situation. “Until such elements are reined in, violence will continue,” he said.
Subham Kumar Sahoo, presidential candidate of Maharshi College of Natural Law, said that this year all candidates had decided to contest the elections without the help of non-students which helps in peaceful election campaigning. “We all must understand that involvement of outsiders turns the situation bad and leads to all such violence,” he said.
Om Mohanty of Rajdhani college, who was a candidate for the president’s post before the authorities called off the elections, is a dejected soul. “We had organised various meets and sessions in the college to get closer to the students but all that went in vain. It hurts that the authorities did not appreciate our efforts to create a peaceful environment and cancelled the elections,” he said.
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