Odisha Government Revives Student Union Elections After 8-Year Hiatus; Polling Scheduled for October 15
BHUBANESWAR — Democracy is set to return to higher education campuses across Odisha. It has been eight years since college elections were suspended under the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) administration; however, following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in Odisha, the state government has gifted students the news that elections will now be held in all colleges and universities.
On Monday, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj officially announced that the state will conduct student union elections on October 15, 2026, bringing an end to the long-standing democratic drought. The critical breakthrough followed a high-level review meeting between Minister Suraj and Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at the Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, where the roadmap to restore campus elections received official clearance. Regular student union elections were last held across the state in 2017. Subsequent elections were routinely put on hold by the previous BJD government, which cited campus unrest, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons.
The Higher Education Department has structured a condensed 10-day timeline to minimize opportunities for campus group friction and law-and-order issues:
October 9: Eligible candidates will file their nomination papers, followed by immediate profiling and scrutiny.
October 10: Last date for withdrawal of nominations and release of the final candidate lists.
October 14: The traditional, much-anticipated “Why I Stand For” meetings will take place on campuses.
October 15: Polling and vote counting will be conducted, with results declared on the same day.
October 16: Newly elected student representatives will take the oath of office before noon.
o guarantee a peaceful and orderly democratic exercise, Minister Suraj clarified that the standard procedures aligning with the Supreme Court’s 2005 verdict and the J. M. Lyngdoh Committee recommendations will be strictly enforced.The state government has left the final implementation up to individual college administrations based on localized safety. If a specific campus lacks a conducive environment, or if student strength is deemed too low, colleges can adopt alternative nomination methods as practiced in previous years. According to the official departmental criteria, undergraduate degree candidates must be between 17 and 22 years of age to contest, while postgraduate candidates have an adjusted age limit.
The move directly fulfills a fundamental poll promise made in the BJP’s 2024 assembly election manifesto. Chief Minister Majhi had previously expressed clear dissatisfaction over the lengthy democratic drought, underscoring that student union bodies are essential platforms for leadership development among the state’s youth.
Minister Suraj stated that the government deliberately utilized the 2025 academic session to stabilize campus environments and address foundational student issues before pushing ahead with the election machinery in 2026. The minister has urged all major political circles and campus groups to act with high responsibility to ensure the entire voting phase concludes smoothly prior to the commencement of the Dussehra vacation
