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Varsity decision on polls triggers row

Staff Reporter

A group of students puts authorities on notice

BHUBANESWAR: A day after the schedule for students' union election was announced and later dramatically kept in abeyance, the campus of Utkal University continued to be on turmoil with two groups of students sharply divided on the issue of holding the poll.

On Tuesday, over 60 students barged into the chamber of Vice-Chancellor L. N. Mishra to present their argument in favour of election. They reportedly questioned that under what circumstances the university authorities decided to keep the election process in abeyance. The students did not even let the police enter the V-C's chamber.

"The university authorities should not have bowed to diktats of a small group of students and put the election on hold. This is not democracy," Subhasish Acharya, a student of anthropology, said.

The students set a deadline of 1 p.m. on Wednesday for re-declaration of poll date. If authorities failed to meet the deadline, they would be held responsible for any law and order situation on the campus, the students reportedly warned the Vice-Chancellor.

Following the students warning, the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar Bichitrananda Das and other top officials of the university held meetings later on the day. The meeting decided appointment of P.K. Sahoo as the new chairman of PG Council in place of Manoranjan Mohapatra.

"The PG Council will meet tomorrow to take a decision on elections," Mr. Das told The Hindu .

Office besieged

Trouble began after Chairman of PG Council declared that elections would be held on March 1. But a group of students demanded that the election should not be held until cases registered against them in connection with a clash that took place on the campus last September were withdrawn. They subsequently besieged the office of registrar for a long time. As a result, the authorities announced to keep the poll process in abeyance in the evening. The PG Council chairman had resigned to his post.

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