SAMBALPUR: Unrest prevailed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (NSCB) College here on Saturday over allegations of irregularities in the campus polls with a section of students accusing the authorities of favouring a particular group and resorting to selection instead of election.
The discontent intensified on Friday after the final list of candidates was published, triggering protests by a section of students backed by the BJD who alleged that the college authorities deliberately excluded aspirants opposed to the group supported by the ruling BJP.
The protesting students alleged that despite clear directions for holding elections, the college authorities were selecting candidates at their discretion. They further accused the officials in charge of the election process of deliberately striking off the names of opposition candidates to favour the group backed by the BJP.
However, college principal Pradeep Kumar Haripal dismissed the allegations and said the election process was conducted in accordance with the prescribed rules. “We have been given a set of criteria. Though a total of 44 candidates had filed nominations for various posts, 39 of them were found ineligible,” he said.
Haripal also refuted the allegation of favouritism to a particular group of students. He said, “We are unaware of which student is affiliated to which political party. The list has been scrutinised solely on the basis of the guidelines issued by the government.”
On the day, Rengali MLA of BJD Sudarshan Haripal and the party’s Sambalpur unit president Rohit Pujari visited the protest site and extended support to the agitating students.
Meanwhile, the Deogarh College was closed sine-die on Saturday evening amid apprehensions of student unrest following rejection of nomination papers of several candidates contesting the campus elections.
The unrest erupted after nomination papers filed by six aspirants for various posts were rejected during scrutiny, leaving only five candidates in the fray.
The college had issued notification for elections to 20 posts in the students’ union. On Friday, 11 candidates filed nomination papers for seven of these posts. During scrutiny, papers of six candidates were rejected on various grounds, while those of five were accepted. Of the accepted nominations, two candidates were in the fray for the president’s post, while the remaining posts had only one candidate each.
Saturday was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. In a late development, one of the two presidential nominees withdrew his nomination, facilitating the other candidate to get elected unopposed. Later, a group of students staged protest after burning tyres outside the college main gate.
As tension prevailed among students and in view of the possibility of a law and order situation on the campus, the authorities closed the college sine die. College principal Bikash Pradhan said a notice has been issued directing students to vacate the campus by 8 am on Sunday.