Colleges turn to class toppers as student unions boycott polls

Why can’t the BJP government hold elections like they happen in other prominent universities? How is electing toppers as class representative justified? The government is only doing this to increase chances of ABVP that has been rejected by Haryana students. PRADEEP DESWAL, president, Indian National Students Organisation

ROHTAK : The student union elections in Haryana, after a gap of over two decades, are turning out to be dummy elections in some colleges and universities with nine of the 11 student unions having announced to boycott the polls and refusing to field their candidates.

In certain colleges, not even a single nomination has been filed as Bjp-supported Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — the only prominent union contesting the elections — does not have a good hold in them.

The student polls, scheduled for Wednesday, are being opposed by unions such as NSUI and INSO due to the ‘indirect method’ of elections. Unlike elections in Delhi University or Jawaharlal Nehru University, the elections in Haryana will be held in all classes and sections to elect class representatives, who will then collectively elect president, vicepresident etc in their college or university.

In Rohtak’s Jat College, which has strength of about 9,000, only two nominations were filed. Those two nominations, too, were later withdrawn. At the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak, for 222 classes and sections, nominations have not been filed in 131 seats. In the remaining less than 100 seats, elections will be held in barely 11 seats on Wednesday as the rest of the seats have only one nomination of an ABVP candidate.

In such situations, the HOD in universities and colleges will appoint the class topper as the class representative without holding any election. This move has been strongly opposed by the protesting student unions who have called it a dummy election.

“Why can’t the BJP government hold elections like they happen in other prominent universities? How is electing toppers as class representative justified? In some cases, even toppers are refusing to be elected, so the HODS are turning to second and third toppers, further diluting the process. This will not stand in court. The government is only doing this to increase chances of ABVP that has been rejected by Haryana students,” said Pradeep Deswal, the president of Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), the student wing of the INLD.

MDU registrar Jitender Bhardwaj said they were following the norms of the election committee by electing the toppers as class representatives in case no nomination was filed. He did not give the exact number, but said no nomination has been filed in over 100 seats at MDU campus.

Heavy police force has been deployed inside the colleges to ensure peaceful elections as protesting student unions have threatened to not let them take place on Wednesday. Last week, students of MDU had clashed with police on campus during their protest, leaving many students and policemen injured. Around 250 students were then booked under charges of attempt to murder and rioting.