Odisha Colleges to Hold Students’ Union Elections Next Year After 8-Year Hiatus: Law Minister

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is set to hold Students’ Union elections next year after a gap of nearly eight years, as confirmed by State Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Monday. The announcement was made during a programme in Jajpur.

Harichandan informed the media that while the elections are typically conducted in the first week of September each year, the BJP-led government was unable to organise them this year. “Colleges will be prepared for the polls, and elections will be held next year,” he stated.

Arijit Patnaik, ABVP secretary, welcomed the announcement, noting that the organisation had been demanding the elections for a long time, even taking the matter to court. He also stressed that conducting peaceful elections is the government’s responsibility and criticised the previous BJD government for its failures in this regard.

Students’ Union elections in Odisha have been on hold since 2018 to maintain peace on campuses.

The elections were first postponed due to Cyclone Titli in 2018 and were subsequently called off in 2019 by the state government. In 2020 and 2021, the elections were not conducted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdowns.