Costly college elections in Odisha surprise many

The amount of money spent by candidates in the recently held college union elections in Odisha has raised eyebrows.

The state had never seen such high cost and extravaganza elections for college and university students’ unions. The guidelines of the Lyngdoh commission for the college and university elections were thrown out of the windows by the candidates participating in the polls.

A candidate for the post of students’ union president in a prominent women’s college in capital city Bhubaneswar, which was recently upgraded to the state’s first university for women, was seen coming to the “why I stand for meeting” in a luxurious trendy car. She was escorted by two candidates for other posts riding horses.

Another candidate in the same college was seen distributing plates of chicken pakodas to woo the students. The “voters” had queued up to have their plates of the mouth-watering dish.

In Cuttack, a candidate had reportedly ordered a hotel to supply five hundred plates of biryani to get the support of the students.

Candidates distributing “gift packs” to students was a common feature in many of the colleges.  Observers believe that the college elections have become expensive only because of active participation of prominent political parties who fund the candidates.