Nainital High Court’s judgement turning down the litigation that demanded students union elections in government colleges and universities has resulted into politicial face-off between Congress and the ruling BJP as former alleged that Dhami government conspired to deprive students of their democratic rights.

The Court on Thursday disposed off a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and turned down its pleading that sought elections in the government colleges and universities after September 30 deadline set by the state government. Pushkar Singh Dhami government on April 23, 2024 issued an order for all government colleges and universities to conduct students union elections in their respective institutions before September 30, 2024. However none of the colleges and universities concerned were able to meet the deadline for students union polls neither they sought any guideline from the state government on the matter. This resulted into a PIL being filed by one Mahipal Singh from Dehradun seeking direction for the state government to conduct students union elections. It sought that government can still take back its deadline order and direct the colleges to hold students union polls. It alleged that state government failed to implement its own orders. However state government expressed its helplessness before the double bench of the Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Vivek Bharti Sharma for the same.

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Main opposition Congress party on Friday alleged that Dhami government deliberately avoided putting up a strong defence in favour of students union elections. “State government’s stand in the High Court was inappropriate and against the democratic rights of the students of Uttarakhand. It was a conspiracy hatched by the state government to deprive the students of their democratic right. Perhaps Dhami government feared drubbings of their students wing in the polls and it would exposed them of their poor governance” said former CM and the Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat on Friday.

Rawat further said “State government said in the HC that its colleges and universities failed to meet the deadline for elections but it must tell who was supposed to ensure that students polls were held in time. Government deliberately prevented its institutions from holding students union polls. We cannot blame HC as it was a right decision on its part. Had there been a constitutional binding on the government HC’s order too have been different.” He alleged that Dhami government has already thrown the Lyngdoh Commission report in the trash as it binds the state to ensure that students union polls are held within eight weeks of the completion of the admissions in the colleges and universities.

Responding to Rawat’s charges BJP’s senior spokesperson Manvir Singh Chauhan alleged that Congress leader was unduely politicising the HC order despite the fact that state government could not have done much in this issue. “Students union polls were sole responsibilities of the respective colleges and universities. They were free to take their decisions and prepare election schedules as per the deadline given by the state government but could not to do so for their own fallacies. State government had given ample time for election of new students unions. Now it’s difficult to go into poll mode as this will lead study to suffer.”