BHUBANESWAR: With nomination of rejections stirring protests across campuses, the students wings of BJD and Congress on Saturday accused the BJP government of selectively cancelling elections in institutions where the ABVP is facing the prospect of defeat.
Spokesperson of BJD Lenin Mohanty alleged that the BJP government is afraid of students and Gen Z and is resorting to ‘vote chori’ and ‘candidate chori’. “The BJP’s student wing is struggling in colleges and universities and thus the administrations are being forced to nominate office-bearers instead of allowing a fair electoral process,” he alleged.
BCJD president Ipshita Sahoo alleged that elections were being cancelled in colleges where their candidates had a strong chance of winning and cited Nabarangpur and Nayagarh colleges as an example.
Sahoo alleged that the candidate list after nomination process was scheduled to be published after 5 pm across campuses but was released only after 9 pm at Utkal, Rama Devi and Ravenshaw universities. “The ABVP candidates faced the possibility of rejection over inadequate attendance but a minister intervened through phone calls to ensure that discrepancies were rectified, delaying the publication of the lists in these campuses,” she alleged.
She claimed that BCJD candidates have already been elected unopposed in over 100 campuses. “The election of four candidates unopposed at Dharanidhar University in Keonjhar, the home turf of the chief minister, is an evidence of the BCJD’s electoral strength,” she said.
NSUI Odisha president Bibhuti Bhushan Mohapatra also alleged irregularities in the nomination process. He questioned the process of selection in 206 colleges and a few universities, alleging that the state government is opting selection of candidates where ABVP’s presence is weak. He also claimed that nomination of their candidates were rejected in more than 50 colleges.
AISF state president Sanghamitra Jena alleged that four of the five nominations submitted by their candidates at Nimapara College were rejected. She further claimed that AISF candidates faced similar rejection at Maa Manikeswari University in Kalahandi district.
The ABVP, however, rejected the allegations of government favouritism. ABVP state secretary Diptimayee Pratihari argued that the organisation wouldn’t have been protesting at Shailabala women’s college and other institutions seeking fair elections if it was getting any favour.
Pratihari, in turn, accused the BCJD of creating campus unrest and preventing ABVP candidates from filing nominations at Indira Gandhi Women’s College. She also alleged that seven of the eight nominations submitted by ABVP candidates at Christ College were rejected without valid reasons.
“At Shailabala Women’s College, seven of the nine nominations filed by our candidates were rejected,”she claimed.
