‘Part of Education’: Karnataka universities, colleges brace for first students’ union elections in 37 years

“Student elections cannot be separated from politics because education itself is a political space,” said B Sripad Bhatt, an educationist and social activist, questioning restrictions on politically affiliated student organisations in Karnataka’s campus polls.

Karnataka is reviving student union elections after a gap of 37 years. While universities and colleges prepare for them, student leaders have raised concerns about restrictions on organisational participation and the absence of clarity on university-level elections.

Student union elections were last held in colleges in the 1989-90 academic year.

The state government issued an order in September to resume elections, with the first phase covering government, aided and private colleges under Karnataka’s department of collegiate education. Universities have directed their colleges to begin preparations.

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Student organisations are preparing for the polls but await detailed guidelines. Like elsewhere, candidates will contest without organisation names or party symbols during polling and the extent of involvement of student organisations in campaigning remains unclear. Student leaders have also questioned whether elections will extend to universities.

Karnataka colleges await dates

B Ramesh, vice-chancellor (VC) of Dr Manmohan Singh Bengaluru City University (BCU), said the university had issued a notification to its 232 colleges, including 14 government colleges, asking them to conduct elections in accordance with the state government’s directions.

“We also held a meeting with the principals and explained the need and importance of student elections in strengthening leadership among students. They have accepted the directions and begun preparations,” Ramesh said.

The university has not fixed a common election date. Individual colleges will decide their schedules, and Ramesh expects most of them to conduct elections by October.

He said colleges have been asked to follow the government’s rules, inform local police stations and explain the purpose of the elections to students.

“ Political interference, directly or indirectly , can be a challenge. During campaigning, conflicts may also arise between different groups and unions. The respective principals will have to manage these issues,” Ramesh said.

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Bhatt cautions against using conflicts to justify stopping elections. “ Violence may happen, but we cannot stop elections because of it. It is the government’s responsibility to control violence and ensure that the democratic process continues,” he said.

Student organisations prepare for polls

Student organisations have begun mobilising students and identifying potential candidates, but are waiting for detailed guidelines to finalise their strategies. The absence of elections does not mean there’s a shortage of student groups and Karnataka has many, most affiliated to major political parties.

Kirthi Ganesh, state president of the Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) in Karnataka, said, “We are waiting for the detailed rules and guidelines. Once they are issued, we will know the process and the measures organisations will have to follow,” he said.

NSUI is identifying colleges, setting up local committees and encouraging students to contest. On paper, candidates will contest independently, without the names or symbols of student organisations on the ballot, but the groups will support them from the outside, similar to the system followed in Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections and elsewhere.

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“We will guide our candidates, help them with the campaign and gain students’ support,” he said.

However, the extent of organisational involvement in campaigning remained unclear.

Basavaraj Guledal, state vice-president of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), a student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) - CPI(M), said the organisation has around 50,000 student members in Karnataka and is conducting awareness programmes, seminars and campus meetings to mobilise students ahead of the elections.

Guledal said students were interested in the return of student unions, but some professors view elections as political activity and discourage participation. Plus, SFI wants university-level elections after college-level ones.

Sharath, an activist with the All India Students’ Association (AISA), associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), and an LLM student at Bangalore University, said elected student bodies had long been a demand in Karnataka.

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“Student-elected bodies have always been our demand in Karnataka. Students can voice their concerns and dissent through a genuinely elected body. Elections should be held at every level, including universities,” he said, adding that AISA will also campaign for university-level elections so that they can raise concerns about university administration and expenditure.

Political affiliations under debate

The Karnataka government’s restrictions on political affiliations have become a point of contention among student organisations. While the proposed framework seeks to limit direct party involvement in campus elections, student leaders have questioned how the rules will operate in practice.

Sharath opposed restrictions on student organisations, arguing that students should be free to associate with political groups. Elected representatives, he said, should be able to raise issues concerning public funding, hostel facilities and private college fees.

Bhatt said the restrictions could favour organisations with a stronger campus presence. He pointed to the BJP-affiliated right-wing student organisation, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), “If organisations cannot participate directly, they will have to work indirectly, and those with weaker organisational structures may find it difficult to compete,” he said.

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Niranjanaradhya V P, an educationist and former senior fellow at the Centre for Child and the Law at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru, said, “Student union elections are very important because they give students a platform to raise serious academic issues.”

“Whether it is a shortage of faculty, changes in the syllabus or the removal of Mughal history from textbooks, students should have an opportunity to discuss and question such decisions,” he explained. “The purpose should be to encourage independent student leadership and democratic participation.”

He called for the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee to be followed to ensure free and fair elections. The committee's recommendations provide a framework for regulating student elections and limiting undue political influence.

Addressing grievances

Beyond the debate over political participation, student organisations see the elections as an opportunity to address grievances that they say have gone unresolved without elected representatives.

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Ganesh said students often struggled to get college administrations to respond to complaints about attendance rules, fines and fees demanded from students leaving courses. An elected union could help them raise such concerns collectively rather than approach college authorities individually, he said.

Nandeesh Jayaram, president of the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS Bangalore) said students welcomed the return of elections because elected representatives could provide a platform to question college administrations and seek action on unresolved complaints.

Jayaram said ASA supports students, particularly those from Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) , in raising campus-related concerns. Without elected unions, students sometimes depended on individual professors or informal groups for support, he said, adding that elected representatives could make concerns of the marginalised communities more visible.

He also raised concerns about grievances reported by women students, including harassment, which require attention from the institutions concerned.

Niranjanaradhya said student elections could help young people understand voting, transparency, accountability and respect for differing opinions.

“It is better to introduce students to democracy late than never. This is also part of their education,” he said. He added that educational institutions should encourage dialogue and debate rather than restrict opportunities for students to participate in democratic processes.