ABVP Candidate’s Nomination Papers rejected at VD College, Jeypore

Hundreds of students took to the street and held protests at Vikram Dev (Autonomous) College in Jeypore following the rejection of nomination papers of a Vice-Presidential candidate, Nihal Samantray, who is backed by ABVP in the ongoing student union polls.

The students ransacked the college office and locked the main gate. They held a blockade on Nattional Highway. Heavy police deployment has been made at VD College to prevent any untoward incident.

While the college authorities cite JM Lyngdoh Commission guidelines while rejecting Nihal’s nomination papers, saying he did not have 75 per cent attendance. However, his supporters have alleged that the Principal acted under pressure from former Minister and senior BJD leader Rabi Narayan Nanda.

They claimed that Mr. Nanda was worried about the fate of his own candidate, and thus pressurised the Principal to act against the ABVP candidate. This is not the one-off incident. Reports from Balasore, Niali and many other places suggest that ABVP candidates are selectively being targeted by the college authorities at the behest of MLAs and Ministers of the ruling party.