Bhubaneswar: With campaigning for students’ union elections intensifying across colleges and universities in Odisha, the Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday accused State Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik of using the police machinery and anti-social elements to capture students’ unions in Polasara, Buguda, Balipada and adjoining areas of Ganjam district.
The BJD alleged that the Minister was using the administrative machinery to intimidate candidates and force them to withdraw their nominations.
Addressing a press conference at Sankha Bhawan in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, BJD General Secretary and former Minister Srikant Sahu, accompanied by party spokesperson Tumbanath Panda, condemned the alleged misuse of government machinery to intimidate candidates and compel them to withdraw their nominations.
“After the announcement of the students’ union election schedule, Minister Gokulananda Mallik realised that the Biju Chhatra Janata Dal had the strongest prospects of winning in the colleges at Polasara, Buguda and Balipada. He then used the local administration and anti-social elements to exert pressure on candidates and their families, compelling them to withdraw their nominations,” Sahu alleged.
He further alleged that complaints lodged with the local police had yielded no results, even after incidents of violence.
Sahu also strongly condemned what he described as the Minister’s abuse of power to bring students’ unions under his control.
Meanwhile, BJD spokesperson Tumbanath Panda condemned Mallik’s remarks about former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, alleging that the Minister had made them in an attempt to conceal his own incompetence.
Panda added that while the former Chief Minister had established Odisha as a model state on the global stage and earned widespread appreciation, the BJP government’s two-and-a-half-year tenure had brought disrepute to the state across various sectors due to its alleged misgovernance.
“There is a competition among BJP leaders and Ministers to remain in the limelight by making comments about Naveen Patnaik Babu. The people of the country and the state are well aware of Naveen Babu’s personality and his record of governance,” Panda alleged.
He further claimed that the people of Odisha were already fed up with the BJP government’s alleged misgovernance over the past two-and-a-half years and would give the state government an appropriate response in the days to come.
Students’ union elections will be held across colleges in Odisha on October 15, following an eight-year hiatus.
