Polling concludes for students' unions in Rajasthan's universities, colleges

JAIPUR: Polling for students' unions in universities and affiliated colleges across Rajasthan concluded on Friday. Tight security arrangements were made for the peaceful conduct of the polls. However, sporadic incidents of protests and tussle were seen in Bikaner, Kota, Sikar and Udaipur where students and police confronted each other.

Police resorted to cane-charging in Dungar College in Bikaner while three students were detained in Udaipur, according to the police. The elections were held after a gap of two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. the polls were held through ballot paper. About 20,700 students were eligible to exercise their franchise at Rajasthan University, which is the state's premier institute. About six lakh students in the state will elect their leaders to raise their voice in campuses, a university spokesperson said. He said the Rajasthan University registered about 48 percent polling. Votes will be counted on Saturday.

According to the police, some students indulged in scuffle with the policemen alleging partisan entry inside the university campus. As students gathered to lodge a protest, police resorted to baton-charging. In Jodhpur, a youth was detained on suspicion of being a bogus voter. In Kota, police had to disperse a crowd when they started raising slogans and tried disturbing peace, police said. Several candidates and their supporters tried to woo voters through different means outside the polling stations. While some distributed pamphlets, others touched the feet of voters to seek their support.

Also read | ‘21st century is for biology’: Why many engineers build careers in life sciences

For the post of the president in the Rajasthan University Students' Union, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has fielded Ritu Barala, while Narendra Yadav is the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate. Niharika Jorwal, Nirmal Chaudhary, Pratapbhanu Meena and Hiteshwar Bairwa are also in the fray. Jorwal is the daughter of Murari Lal Meena, a minister in the state government. She is contesting as an independent after the NSUI denied her a ticket. The nominations of two ABVP candidates were rejected during scrutiny on Tuesday. Following protests, their nominations were considered valid later at night.