BHUBANESWAR: Higher education minister Ananta Das on Saturday made it clear that they will not hold Students’ Union election this year. He advised the student leaders not to stay under false impression that government will reconsider its decision on campus polls.“The students should focus on studies instead of wasting time in believing rumours about state’s plan to hold election soon. Our department had cancelled the election in view of the cyclone Titli’s landfall on October 11. We do not have any plan to conduct election this year,” said Das.Some student organisations like Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) affiliated to RSS and All India Students’ Federation (AISF), a left wing student organisation, have demanded election in the campus.“It’s a democratic right of the students to take part in the election process. The state government should not stop this. It can conduct the election after the cyclone is over. But minister’s clarification proved that Students’ Union election will not be held this time. We will oppose it,” said Abhilash Panda, national secretary of ABVP.Jagannath Patra, state secretary of AISF, criticised the minister’s view and demanded a new date to conduct the election. “Minister said they cannot conduct election as it is already cancelled. But Lyngdoh Commission says the state government can give a new date to hold the election. We urge the government to consider our demand,” he added.A group of students of Ekamra College here on Saturday demanded election in the campus. Students submitted a memorandum to higher education minister through college principal Binod Samantaray requesting the government to conduct elections in the campus.Soumya Ranjan Patra, a candidate of Ekamra College, said all the election process except polling was over. “We had even completed our ‘Why I Stand For’ on the eve of the polling day (October 11). We respect the decision of the state government for cancelling it in view of cyclone. But now the storm is over and it can hold the election without any problem,” he added.

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