Non-BJD students unions oppose cancellation of campus polls

Various student bodies in the state not affiliated to the ruling Biju Janata Dal on Friday opposed the Odisha government's decision to cancel the students' union elections in colleges and universities in the state.

The students' wings of the RSS and the Congress - Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and National Students' Union of India respectively - were critical of the government move while the Biju Chhatra Janata Dal, affiliated to the ruling BJD, welcomed it.

The ABVP activists staged a demonstration in front of Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo's official residence here and some of them were detained following a scuffle with security personnel, officials said.

The NSUI also protested against the decision claiming that the ruling BJD cancelled the students union polls fearing defeat.

"If the police can smoothly conduct general elections, what is the difficulty in holding students union polls," asked Itish Pradhan, the NSUI state coordinator.

The students' organisations affiliated to different left parties also opposed the state government's decision of cancelling the students union polls.

The Biju Chhatra Janata Dal vice-president Rajesh Swain said the government should take alternative means to give representation to students as violence erupts many times during elections in campuses.

The Higher Education Department in its notification on Thursday had cancelled the students union elections in colleges and universities in 2019.