BHUBANESWAR: Student organisations and candidates on Tuesday stepped up their last-minute efforts to reach out to voters, as part of the last leg of campaigning ahead of the campus polls on Thursday.
At Utkal University, candidates and their supporters canvassed across all 28 departments as well as those pursuing self-financing courses, sharing their election manifesto and agenda to seek votes.
An intense election atmosphere prevailed on campuses, with student organisations, including ABVP, BCJD, NSUI and AISF making concerted efforts to connect with the voters.
Car rallies were also held on the Utkal University campus. Besides, campaigning in hostels continued till late in the night at candidates aimed to wrap up their outreach ahead of the ‘Why I Stand For’ event scheduled on Wednesday.
Surjya Narayan Nayak, BCJD president candidate at Utkal University, said, “We reached out to students highlighting the problems they face on campus on various fronts, including poor placements due to an inactive placement cell. We also noted down the issues raised by the students and assured of working towards addressing them. The response from students has been positive,” he added.
Besides Utkal, candidates and their supporters in other universities and colleges also campaigned actively throughout the day. Swadhin Acharya, an ABVP candidate at Gangadhar Meher University (GMU), Sambalpur, said as the student union polls were taking place after eight years, the organisation enthusiastically reached out to students urging them to participate in the democratic process.
“Several issued faced by students have remained unheard in the absence of a student representative. Our key priorities will include addressing basic amenities such as toilets and drinking water, besides ensuring free transport for students commuting from distant areas. The university has extended its cooperation in the smooth conduct of the election. We hope this support will continue in the coming days as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, reports of disputes on some campuses added to the election-related tension. In Balangir, an altercation reportedly broke out between ABVP and BCJD members near the Circuit House over alleged violation of the model code of conduct. At Rama Devi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar, some BCJD members protested in the night alleging irregularities in allotment of ballot numbers.
As per the statistics of the Higher Education department, a total of 8,785 candidates filed nominations across 359 higher educational institutions (HEIs), comprising 346 colleges and 13 universities. Of these, 1,216 nominations were rejected during scrutiny.
Later, 443 candidates withdrew from the contest, leaving 6,891 candidates in the fray. Of the total number of candidates contesting the elections, 6,533 are from colleges and 358 from universities, officials said.
