ABVP moves Orissa HC seeking students’ union election in colleges

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Monday moved the Orissa High Court seeking necessary directions to Odisha government to conduct students’ union elections in the state.

ABVP’s Odisha general secretary and National executive member have filed the petition in the High Court and the Odisha Chief Secretary, School and Mass Education Department Secretary, Higher Education Department Secretary and others have been made parties. The petitioners have alleged that the Odisha government is not holding the polls citing unrest in educational institutions.

Earlier, political atmosphere had warmed up in Odisha after a letter was issued by the Higher Education department on the implementation of the academic calendar for the session 2023-24.

Notably, the calendar did not have any information on students’ union election which triggered widespread resentment among major student bodies in the state.

It is pertinent to mention here that there have been no students’ union elections in the state universities and degree colleges including those in Bhubaneswar for the sixth year in a row. The students’ union election was put off due to Cyclone Titli in 2018 while the state government once again called it off in 2019. The election was also not conducted in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.