Bhubaneswar: Colleges and universities in the state and the capital city witnessed a surge in youth power Wednesday as candidates filed their nomination papers for October 11 student elections.
The candidates began filing papers from 9 am and the process concluded at 12 noon. The list of valid candidates will be published Thursday. Students across various colleges and universities in the city such as Rama Devi Women’s University, BJB Autonomous College, Maharishi College of Natural Law and Rajdhani College filed their nominations amidst cheers and slogans from their supporters.
After a gap of two years, elections will be conducted in BJB Autonomous College this year and the candidates are very enthusiastic about it. “We will try to develop our college and reduce the campus violence. We will also try to maintain peace on the campus during election,” said Soumitri Batsal Dash, the presidential candidate.
Students of Ramadevi University are also excited about the upcoming polls. They were seen dancing, singing and shouting slogans during the filing of papers.
Swikruti Mishra, president candidate in RU, said she is hopeful of gaining the faith of students and win.
Meanwhile, untoward incidents were reported from college campuses from across the state Wednesday. In Rajdhani College here, students and candidates of ABVP locked the gate and sat on protest after their candidate’s nomination was cancelled due to less attendance.
In another incident, panic struck Niali College in Cuttack district after some bike-borne miscreants threw bombs inside the campus while students were filing their nomination papers. Later, adequate police forces were deployed in and around the college to prevent worsening of the situation. In Keonjhar and Deoarh, bomb hurlings were reported from some colleges.
Candidates are allowed to withdraw their names by October 4 after which the final list of candidates will be published on the same day. The ‘Why I Stand For’ meeting will be held October 10.
Earlier, some universities and colleges in the state including Ravenshaw University, Sambalpur University and Utkal University cancelled elections following campus violence.
Polling will be conducted between 8 am and 2 pm October 11 while the counting and results will be declared by evening on the same day. The oath-taking ceremony of elected students’ representatives will be held October 12.
