Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad (UOH) administration has put the result of the students’ union president election on hold and recounting has been scheduled for Friday, November 1. The result of the UOH Students’ Union President Election 2024-2025 has been put on hold by the Election Commission, raising suspicion among students. On Wednesday, October 30, the chairman of the Election Commission issued a circular issuing guidelines for the recounting process, which was scheduled for November 1. Meanwhile, several student organisations have come forward in protest against the proposal, pointing out discrepancies in the notification. All the organisations have questioned the basis of the announcement of the recounting process. They have termed its commencement a week after the original announcement of results as highly objectionable.
It is important to note that an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is part of the Election Complaints Committee, which has led to claims of bias in the functioning of the committee. Students have accused the Election Commission of being biased for lack of transparency. Student organisations are also equally concerned about the possibility of tampering with ballot boxes. A joint statement issued by Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), Dalit Students Union (DSU) and Bahujan Students Front (BSF) condemning the undemocratic nature of the political drama going on at the UoH campus.
An SFI representative told Siasat.com, “This is a gross violation of the Lyngdoh Commission report and the constitution of the students’ union. The constitution clearly states that a call for recounting should be made at the earliest. And the Election Commission is of no significance now, as more than 48 hours have passed since the declaration of the result.” The result of the UoH-SU elections 2024-25 was declared on Sunday, October 25. Umesh Ambedkar of the Left-Ambedkarite alliance of ASA-BSF-DSU-SFI emerged victorious in the election for the post of president by a margin of 18 votes. Umesh Ambedkar received 1313 votes while his nearest rival and former ABVP-HCU general secretary Akash Bhati, who contested as an independent, got 1295 votes.
The recently held elections took place after the sudden dissolution of the previous students’ union, which was notified through a circular issued by the Dean of Students Welfare (DSW) on October 15. Notably, the elections were announced without even convening a university general body meeting (UGBM), raising questions over the decision-making process ahead of this election cycle and was widely condemned by various student organisations on the UoH campus. In view of recent events on the campus, the university administration is allegedly sponsoring the agenda of the Sangh Parivar. The activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been given a free hand by the administration. The increasing number of violent incidents perpetrated by the ABVP are also going unchecked by the authorities.
