SAMBALPUR: With the campus polls all set to return to western Odisha, Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) and Sambalpur University will be adopting contrasting election models to choose their students leaders.
At GMU, the authorities have clarified that there will be no direct election to the students’ union. Instead, an electorate of students will be selected and the members of the council will subsequently elect office-bearers from among themselves.
GMU PRO Atul Pradhan said the selection method for formation of student council has been implemented in the institution since 1998 and it will continue this year as well. The process ensures peaceful observance of elections, without the presence of any member of political parties or non-students and amid tight security.
The model assumes particular significance at GMU given the institution’s long and eventful history of student politics. The erstwhile GM College was once one of the most politically active campuses in Odisha. However, a murder took place a day after the students’ union elections in 1998, following which direct elections at GM College were suspended. Though student representation was subsequently restored, it was not through direct elections.
At Sambalpur University, the election will be a conventional contest. But election fever is yet to grip the Jyoti Vihar campus so far. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) was among the first student organisations to celebrate the announcement of the election dates and has since been holding meetings to chalk out its strategy.
The university has several major issues that could potentially trigger student mobilisation. Yet, the campus has not witnessed any major student agitation in recent years. The subdued atmosphere is perhaps due to the absence of strong opposition student groups.
Student organisations backed by opposition parties have maintained limited visible activity on the campus in recent years, raising questions over whether all political groups will field candidates in the upcoming elections.
While GMU is cautiously bringing back student representation through a system designed to avoid the direct contests of its turbulent past, Sambalpur University is returning to direct elections at a time when the traditional political machinery on the campus appears considerably weaker.
