Bhubaneswar -: Student union elections, held after a gap of eight years amid spo-radic tensions, saw candidates backed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) win in a majority of colleges and universities across the state Thursday. Polling was held from 8 am to 2 pm at 346 state-run colleges and 13 universities under tight security. As of midnight, 247 colleges had declared their results, with 2,602 winners an-nounced. Of these, 1,169 candi-dates were elected unopposed, while 1,433 won contested elec-tions, sources said.
Six universities had also de-clared their results, announc-ing 66 winners. Of these, 24 candidates were elected unop-posed, while 42 won contested elections, they added. Sources said the ABVP had won in a majority of higher ed-ucational institutions, followed by the Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), while the National Stu-dents’ Union of India (NSUI) performed poorly. In Bhubaneswar, AB-VP-backed presidential candi-date Aryan Mohapatra won at BJB Autonomous College. Simi-larly, ABVP candidate Avinash Padhee secured the president’s post at Rajdhani College. At
Utkal University, ABVP pres-idential candidate Abhiram Mishra emerged victorious. At Gangadhar Meher University in Sambalpur, ABVP candidate Swadhin Kumar Acharya won the presidential election. The BCJD secured the pres-ident’s post at Ravenshaw University in Kataka, where its candidate, Biswajit Sahu, ABVP-backed candidates celebrate after declaration of poll results at BJB Autonomous College in Bhubaneswar, Thursday
emerged victorious. At Kama-la Nehru Women’s College, BCJD candidate Bhanupriya Hazari won the presidential contest. At Khalikote University, independent candidate San-tosh Pundi won the election for president post. Similarly, Rajendra Nayak, another inde-pendent presidential candidate at SCS Autonomous College in Puri, emerged victorious.
At Rama Devi Women’s Uni-versity, the BCJD was leading by a significant margin when vote counting was halted follow-ing allegations of ballot tamper-ing by ABVP candidates, sourc-es said. The ABVP candidates demanded a recount, leading to the suspension of counting. Tension prevailed at Rama Devi Women’s University af-ter BCJD president Ipsita Sa-hoo was arrested by Commis-sionerate Police, triggering a face-off between BCJD and ABVP workers. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi urged students to participate in the elections peacefully.
