In a strong show of strength the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) swept student union polls in Chhattisgarh. It won all the posts of president, vice president, secretary and joint secretary in the nine universities of Bastar, Sarguja, Bilaspur, Raipur and Durg. Elections were held on September 2 and the results were declared the same day. Earlier on August 27, the ABVP won college union elections bagging over 80 per cent of the posts of presidents. Elections in the colleges were held after a gap of six years. The college union presidents have been chosen through direct elections. Reports reveal that the ABVP bagged union president posts in 125 colleges, while its rival the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) of Congress could secure only 55 posts.
The ABVP registered impressive victory in the Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekananda Technical University (CSVTU) students’ union elections, as it secured all the four positions. At CSVTU, this is the first student union’s election since its inception. ABVP’s Kajal Mishra defeated NSUI’s Abhijeet Banchor with a margin of 31 votes for the president’s post here. While the other three posts—Secretary (Gagan Mittal), Vice President (Shivam Sharma) and Joint Secretary (Sachchidanand), were also clinched by the ABVP. It needs a mention that the elected presidents and secretaries from 73 colleges participated in the university election where the total numbers of voters were 139 of which 137 exercised their franchise. CSVTU, Registrar, G R Sahu accompanied by Vice Chancellor and other officials announced the results of elections at the university campus.
Commenting on the victory Shri Prafull Akant, Akhil Bharatiya Janjati Students in charge, said the credit for this victory goes to the workers who were preparing for it throughout the year, while the other organisations started work a few weeks ago. “One of the major interesting facts about the outcome of these elections is that many of the ABVP candidates who won the polls are from the lowest strata of the society. The parents of some of the candidates are either vegetable vendor or rickshawpuller. This shows that the ABVP has reached at the lowest level,” said Shri Prafull Akant. —Pramod Kumar
