Bhubaneswar: The annual students’ union elections in colleges and universities across the state will be held October 11, the state government declared Friday.
Filing of nomination papers and verification will be completed by October 3 while the last date of withdrawal of nominations is October 4. The final list of candidates would be made public same day. The “Why I Stand For” meeting has been scheduled for October 10.
Voting will begin at 8am and continue till 2pm while results will be announced between 2pm and 6pm. The oath-taking ceremony will be held October 12. Higher education department authorities said the elections have been scheduled in such a way that they would be wrapped up before the Durga Puja vacation. “This has been done to check any kind of post-poll violence,” said a senior official of the department.
According to the guidelines of the Lyngdoh Commission, candidates seeking posts must have 75 per cent attendance, should have no criminal antecedents and there should be no political interference in the elections. “The candidates will have to abide by the model code of conduct,” said a senior government official.
Last year, elections in seven colleges and five universities across the state were called off because of campus violence.