Students scuffle with cops over campus polls demand

Bhubaneswar: The clamour to hold student union elections in colleges and universities in the state is gradually gathering pace. Members of the All Odisha Students Voice, a student organisation, had a scuffle with police while marching towards chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence here on Monday demanding campus election.The police stopped the protesters at Sishu Bhawan square while they were attempting to march towards Naveen Niswas by defying the police. The members threw eggs at the poster of higher education minister Rohit Pujari and tried to break the barricade put up by the police. Several protesters were detained.Bibhu Prasad Jena, president of the students’ outfit, said elections to the union have been stalled in the state’s higher education institutions since 2018. The state government should clarify why elections are not being held, he added.He said student politics has produced several ministers and peoples representatives. Student union elections did not happen during Covid, but it could have been done this year as the state has already withdrawn the restrictions, he added.Jena said the protests will grow. “If the government does not allow the campus elections, we will intensify the agitation across the state. We will fight against the state’s silence over this issue in a united manner. We will also raise ragging issues during the movement,” he added.