the goan I network
PANAJI
The Goa University Students Council (GUSC) elections on Monday witnessed more than its fair share of drama with clashes between students of opposing political parties on the University campus outside the B block where the elections were being held. The police force deployed for the elections had to intervene with several students arrested and taken to the Agassaim police station.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) -- the youth wing of the BJP-supported panel won the elections in a landslide 63-22 verdict. According to what the victors said, this is the tenth time a BJYM-supported panel is winning the University elections.
Meanwhile the National Students Union of India (NSUI) “ the students wing of the Congress boycotted the elections calling it an “internal BJP affair between the BJYM and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP)” “ the students wing of the BJP. The BJYM and ABVP have not been seeing eye to eye during this election, and had clashes ten days ago.
Tension ran high at the B block of the campus right from the beginning, with police force being deployed in anticipation of an NSUI protest against the elections being held. NSUI members, not being allowed on campus, climbed atop the building to make their voices heard. When violence erupted between the two groups of students, police intervened and arrested seven NSUI members taking them to the Agassaim police station for five hours.
Speaking to media, BJYM president Gajanan Tilve alleged that the NSUI had allied with the ABVP to disrupt the proceedings of the elections and threaten the BJYM backed candidates. Tilve also alleged that one of the BJYM karyakartas had been hit by a bottle by the protesters. In a press conference later in the evening, NSUI president Ahraz Mulla rubbished allegations that the NSUI had allied with the ABVP and maintained that it was the BJP who could not handle its own wings, which had resulted in in-fighting.
When contacted, Prof Ramrao Wagh, the acting Director of Social Welfare (DSW) told “The Goan” that the actual election-process had gone off peacefully inside the building. When asked about the clashes between political parties’ student wings outside the election block, Prof Wagh said that the University had not conducted the elections on any party lines, and that elections had been fair, and that the University had followed the statutes. “The elections were open to any student. We are not aware if students belong to any party. We went according to the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines,” Wagh said.
After winning the elections,
the victors called on the CM Pramod Sawant, and were congratulated by Minister Vishwajit Rane on social media.
Khemal Prabhu Shirodkar, an MCom student of Dempo College was elected the chairman of the GUSC, while Gaurav Naik, a BSc BEd student from Parsekar College of Education was elected secretary. The executive committee has a total of nine members.
The Goan also contacted Sanmesh Shet of ‘Together for University’, a non-political students body who were rooting for an a-political election, but he declined to comment on Monday’s elections.
