HC order on student union polls sparks political row in Uttarakhand

The Nainital High Court’s judgment dismissing the suit seeking student union elections in colleges and universities has resulted in a political showdown between the Congress and the ruling BJP, with earlier allegations that the Dhami government was conspiring to target students from deprive them of their democratic rights.

The Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) and dismissed his plea seeking elections in government colleges and universities after the September 30 deadline set by the state government. The Pushkar Singh Dhami government on April 23, 2024 issued an order to all government colleges and universities to hold student union elections in their respective institutions by September 30, 2024. However, none of the colleges and universities involved were able to meet the student union deadline. polls nor did they seek any directive from the state government on the issue. This resulted in a PIL filed by one Mahipal Singh from Dehradun, seeking directions for the state government to organize student union elections. It sought that the government can still withdraw its deadline and direct colleges to hold student union polls. It alleged that the state government had failed to implement its own orders. However, the state government expressed its helplessness before the dual bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Vivek Bharti Sharma.

The main opposition Congress party on Friday alleged that Dhami’s government was deliberately avoiding putting up a strong defense in favor of student union elections. “The stand of the state government in the Supreme Court was inappropriate and against the democratic rights of the students of Uttarakhand. It was a conspiracy by the state government to deprive the students of their democratic right. Perhaps the Dhami government feared that its students would be targeted in the polls and it would expose them to their poor governance,” former CM and Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat said on Friday.

Rawat further said, “The state government said in the HC that its colleges and universities have failed to meet the deadline for elections, but it should inform who was responsible for ensuring that student polls were held on time. The government deliberately prevented its institutions from conducting student union polls. We can’t blame HC because it was the right decision on his part. If there was a constitutional obligation on the government, HC’s order would also have been different.” He alleged that the Dhami government has already trashed the Lyngdoh Commission report as it makes it mandatory for the state to ensure that student union polls are held within eight weeks of the completion of admissions to colleges and universities .

Reacting to Rawat’s allegations, BJP senior spokesperson Manvir Singh Chauhan alleged that the Congress leader was unnecessarily politicizing the HC order despite the fact that the state government could not have done much in the matter. “Student union polls were the sole responsibility of the respective colleges and universities. They were free to make their decisions and prepare election manifestos as per the deadline set by the state government, but could not do so due to their own misconceptions. The state government had given sufficient time for the election of new student unions. Now it is difficult to go into polling mode as it will cause the study to suffer.”