Bhubaneswar, Oct 5 (IANS): Following the announcement of students' union elections in Odisha, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj on Monday appealed to students to participate in the campus polls as part of student democracy, while ensuring free and fair participation without resorting to violence.

“Look, my earnest appeal to everyone is to participate in this student democracy. Participate in a free and fair manner, without resorting to any violence. Whoever wins, a student will emerge as a leader and provide leadership in the future. With this spirit in mind, we should contest these elections,” said the Minister.

Suryabanshi described the resumption of student elections after a long gap as a historic and important moment for Odisha’s student community, saying that the polls will provide students with a major opportunity to gain experience and prepare themselves to take up leadership roles in society.

On concerns over violence during campus elections, Suryabanshi said maintaining law and order was the government’s responsibility. “If there is any law-and-order situation, the law will take its own course,” he said.

Launching a sharp political attack, Suryabanshi accused the previous government of using campus violence as a mere pretext to deliberately "sabotage" emerging leadership, stressing that halting elections and robbing students of their democratic rights instead of maintaining law and order was entirely unjustified.

He said the possibility of violence should not be used as a reason to suspend student elections and deprive students of their democratic rights.

The Minister said the revival of campus polls would give students a platform to participate in the electoral process and ensure their concerns have a greater voice in institutional and policy discussions.

As per the schedule, the colleges and universities will issue election notifications on October 7; nominations will be filed on October 9 and scrutinised on the same day. The last date for withdrawal of nominations and declaration of the final candidate list is October 10.

Meanwhile, the “Why I Stand For” meeting will be held on October 14, and polling will take place on October 15. The counting of votes and declaration of results will take place on October 15, while the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected students’ union members will be held on October 16.

The regular student union elections were last held in Odisha in 2017. The 2018 election cycle was cancelled due to repeated incidents of campus violence and Cyclone Titli, after which the process remained suspended through the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent change of government.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.