the goan I network
PANAJI
The election process for the Goa University’s student council turned murky with a pitched BJP versus BJP battle forcing the authorities to cancel the polling which was scheduled to be held on Friday.
The Goa University election authority postponed the Friday election indefinitely after chaos reigned between the two contesting groups, interestingly both directly affiliated to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party -- Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). While ABVP is the BJP’s student wing, the BJYM is its Youth Wing.
The Goa University authorities are yet to announce the fresh date for the election.
The bone of contention between the two BJP-affiliated groups is the alleged influence-peddling by Shubham Faldesai, who is the son of ex-MLA of Sanguem Subhash Phaldesai.
After the elections were postponed, the BJYM group which is backing Shubham, led a morcha to the office of
the Goa University Vice-Chancellor Varun Sahani protesting against the decision.
The ABVP group meanwhile alleged that the Goa University student council election was postponed at the last moment due to “political interference”.
“Election was postponed without any intimation. The director of students welfare (DSW) informed one of our colleagues telephonically at around 10 am that the election has been cancelled. This has been done under political pressure”, one of the candidates on the ABVP panel Sankalp Faldesai said.
He alleged that the son of the ex-MLA is being supported by BJYM group and the influence of some heavyweight ruling MLAs is being used to manipulate the election.
Prabha Naik, a contestant for the ladies representative position on the Council said that the ABVP has decided to defeat candidates sponsored by politicians and political outfits.
The Director of Students Welfare committee is being forced to accept the rejected nomination papers of Shubham Faldesai to contest for the executive member’s position of council, Naik alleged.
Shubham is the son of the former Sanguem MLA, who was recently appointed to the prestigious position of vice-chairman of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) by the Pramod Sawant government.
Phaldesai and BJP general secretary Sadanand Tanavade, who was also recently appointed chairman of the Economic Development Corporation are the only two non-MLAs to be appointed to top positions of State bodies by the BJP government.
Prabha Naik, meanwhile, claimed that ABVP panel was in a winning position and has the support of more than 40 of the 78 UFRs (University Faculty Representatives).
She also alleged that rumours are being spread that ABVP is being supported by the Congress-backed NSUI.
ABVP has appealed to the Chancellor and Governor of Goa Dr Mridula Sinha to intervene and take strict action against the authorities of the Goa University who are acting under the influence of political forces.
ABVP has also demanded that the illegal and arbitrary decision of the Goa University to postpone the election be quashed.
Alleging that it is impossible to have a transparent election in the current political setup ABVP has demanded that entire election process for the year 2019-20 is required to be canceled.
Meanwhile two days ago, there were clashes between the ABVP and BJYM groups with either side filing complaints against each other at the Panaji police station.
The complaint filed by the ABVP group alleges that a BJYM affiliated female student at the University attacked two of its group members.
FLASHBACK: Clashes between ABVP & BJYM erupted two days ago with either side filing complaints at the Panaji police station. The complaint filed by ABVP alleges that a BJYM affiliated female student at the University attacked two of its group members
FRIDAY TAMASHA:
BJP vs BJP
BJYM marches to office of University Vice-Chancellor Varun Sahani protesting decision to postpone elections
ABVP alleges election postponed at the last moment due to “political interference”
Goa University authorities yet to announce fresh date for election
ABVP alleges son of ex-MLA supported by BJYM
Director of Students Welfare PANEL forced to accept rejected nomination papers of Shubham Faldesai, claims ABVP
