Congress dominance over Utkal ends, fails to field nominees

BHUBANESWAR: After dominating Utkal University students' politics for nearly two decades, NSUI failed to field a single candidate this year.
Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) fielded Rajesh Raj Swain for the post of president. Manas Kumar Sahoo entered the presidential fray as ABVP nominee. A third candidate, Debasis Panigrahi, is contesting as an independent.For other posts such as vice-president and general secretary, a candidate each from BCJD and ABVP are in the race.
After several NSUI leaders, including former Utkal students' union presidents Tanmay Swain and Chinmaya Sahoo, joined BCJD in August, all eyes were on the outfit as to who it would nominate for the varsity polls. "Since our possible candidates deserted us, we did not find suitable nominees," said NSUI state vice-president Mitali Pushpalata.
Varsity insiders expressed surprise over NSUI's absence from the poll scene as the outfit had been dominating the union for decades.
Utkal University PG council chairman Gopal Panda said the students exercised restraint this time with opponents shaking hands with each other in a rare show of bonhomie. On Friday, filing of nominations for the September 29 polls was largely peaceful across campuses in the state, barring a minor altercation in Capital Law College here.