Filing of nominations for students’ union polls ends

Bhubaneswar: Filing of nomination papers by aspirant candidates for students’ union elections across colleges in Odisha concluded on Saturday amid reports of violence.

Different students’ organizations took out rallies and raised slogans in support of their candidates during the nomination process in the state capital. Utkal University saw heavy deployment of police force on the premises owing to unrest in the past few days.

Such scenes also marked the filing of nominations at other colleges in the state. The final list of candidates will be declared on September 18. ‘Why I stand for?’ meeting is scheduled for September 22. Polls will be conducted on September 23 and results announced the same day.

The day also saw sporadic instances of pre-poll violence leading to declaration of sine die and cancellation of polls at a few colleges.

Unidentified miscreants hurled two bombs at Alarnath College in Brahmagiri of Puri district. The college authorities later declared sine die following which some students blocked Puri-Satapada Road near the college. Police forces have been deployed on the campus to prevent any untoward incident.

Dhamnagar College in Bhadrak district also declared sine die following student unrest.

At Hinjilicut College in Ganjam district, Democratic Students’ Organisation (DSO)-supported candidate was allegedly attacked by a group of students while clash ensued between two student groups at SCS College in Puri over filing of nomination papers.