Student unrest and pre-poll violence on the day of the scrutiny of nomination papers filed by candidates on Monday for the Students’ Union polls compelled the authorities of four colleges of the State on Tuesday to cancel the elections.
Due to pre-poll violence, the authorities of three city colleges, Maharishi College of Natural law, Rajdhani College and City Women’s College, decided not to hold the polls and declared the institutions’ closure sine die. The Dhenkanal Autonomous College followed suit following student unrest in the campus. The students ransacked the college after nomination of a president candidate was rejected.
According to reports, violent scenes were witnessed in these colleges throughout the day after nomination papers of many aspirants got rejected after scrutinisation. Irate students ransacked college canteens and libraries.
Protesting the scrutiny process of the authorities of the Vikram Dev College at Jeypore, students locked the main gate of the college and gheraoed the principal demanding fresh filing of nominations.
Meanwhile, an unidentified miscreant hurled two bombs near the ladies’ hostel of the Ramadevi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar in the afternoon.
Though the reason behind the bomb hurling was yet to be ascertained, it was suspected to be pre-poll violence.
Following the incident, students of the university took to the streets demanding action against the miscreants.
Earlier, the authorities of the Utkal University and the Samanta Chandrasekhar College in Puri had decided not to conduct the polls this year.
Notably, the final lists of eligible candidates for the Students’ Union polls in colleges and universities across the State were declared in the afternoon.