Bhubaneswar: There is no final decision yet at the govt level on holding students’ union elections in Odisha, state higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj said on Thursday, even as he maintained that the department has consistently remained positive about conducting the polls.Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Suraj said deliberations on the issue were continuing. “There has been no final decision at the govt level yet. The higher education department has always been positive about holding the elections,” he said.The minister’s statement came days after the issue figured at a meeting of BJP ministers and MLAs in Bhubaneswar on Monday. The meeting was convened to review the month-long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan being observed from Sept 17 to Oct 17 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 76th birthday.The issue assumes significance as the 2026-27 academic session is already underway, while regular students’ union elections have been absent from campuses for nearly a decade. The last statewide polls were held in 2017.The BJP govt had earlier promised to resume the elections. Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, in Dec 2024, had announced that students’ union polls would be held from the 2025-26 academic session. The elections, however, were not held last year.Suraj had also said in Sept that the govt was examining the issue and that the higher education department was in favour of restoring the polls. No election schedule has been announced so far.The delay has drawn criticism from students’ organisations. Biju Chatra Janata Dal president Ipshita Sahoo questioned how the govt could conduct the polls before the Puja vacation, given the limited time left.“Going by the traditional timeline for students’ union elections, there are only 10-15 days left before the Puja vacation. We are confused about how the govt would hold elections before that,” Sahoo said. She, however, added that BCJD was ready to participate if the polls were held.Students’ union elections have not been held since 2017. The govt had subsequently cited campus disturbances and need to maintain a peaceful academic environment for keeping polls suspended, while the Covid-19 pandemic further prolonged the gap.
