Nagpur: Nagpur University's (NU) upcoming elections for its statutory bodies would witness a three-pronged fight between major groups, which are contesting for all seats.
This time, Shikshan Manch has jumped into the fray in the backdrop of the BJP government assuming power, both at Centre and state, NU said officials. The fourth player, Nagpur University Teachers Association (NUTA), will contest only the teachers' seats, both in Senate and Academic Council. Moreover, there would be no pre-poll alliance between any of these parties.
In the last polls on January 2, 2011, the main fight was between two heavyweights of NU — Dr Vedprakash Mishra's Secular Panel (SP) and Baban Taywade's Younger Teachers' Association (YTA). That time, former powerhouses like SM and NUTA, having hold over the house for a long period in absence of quality opposition, were wiped out.
SP, which made its debut in the last polls, did impressively in the Senate by clinching 33 seats, while YTA improved its tally to 23 as compared to 2005. Both SM and NUTA fared disastrously by securing only eight and two seats respectively. Bogus voting and rigging cast serious aspersions on the polls, where SP was accused of using money power and muscle power.
To fight its threat, YTA, SM and NUTA joined hands in the later stages that halted SP's winning streak. The mega merger ensured that they would get majority in the Academic Council and subsequently on the Management Council and other bodies.
NU officials said this time all outfits have even chances of winning majority and there was every possibility that all the three would equally share seats, with NUTA grabbing some of them.
"We're fully geared up for polls. We've appointed two retired officials — former registrar Subhash Belsare and ex-deputy registrar SS Bharambe — having vast experience in conducting the elections. The registrar is the returning officer for the entire process and he will depute officials for it. Preparations have already been made for voting at outstation centres," vice-chancellor SP Kane told TOI.
SM, which will contest all the seats this time, is hopeful of an impressive performance. "We are sure of winning the majority. SM is purely an academic organization and has nothing to do with the BJP government," coordinator Kalpana Pande said.
Taywade already declared that there would no pre-poll alliance with SM and NUTA, but they will fight majority of seats. "We didn't get qualified candidates for some of BOS seats, but for others, we're fielding experienced ones. Currently, we don't have any pact with other parties, but can't say anything about post-election period," he said.
Senior SP leader Dinesh Agrawal said though he and a couple of other leaders were not contesting polls, they have fielded quality candidates who will be able to strongly raise various issues related to students, teachers and other stakeholders of NU.
This time, Shikshan Manch has jumped into the fray in the backdrop of the BJP government assuming power, both at Centre and state, NU said officials. The fourth player, Nagpur University Teachers Association (NUTA), will contest only the teachers' seats, both in Senate and Academic Council. Moreover, there would be no pre-poll alliance between any of these parties.
In the last polls on January 2, 2011, the main fight was between two heavyweights of NU — Dr Vedprakash Mishra's Secular Panel (SP) and Baban Taywade's Younger Teachers' Association (YTA). That time, former powerhouses like SM and NUTA, having hold over the house for a long period in absence of quality opposition, were wiped out.
SP, which made its debut in the last polls, did impressively in the Senate by clinching 33 seats, while YTA improved its tally to 23 as compared to 2005. Both SM and NUTA fared disastrously by securing only eight and two seats respectively. Bogus voting and rigging cast serious aspersions on the polls, where SP was accused of using money power and muscle power.
To fight its threat, YTA, SM and NUTA joined hands in the later stages that halted SP's winning streak. The mega merger ensured that they would get majority in the Academic Council and subsequently on the Management Council and other bodies.
NU officials said this time all outfits have even chances of winning majority and there was every possibility that all the three would equally share seats, with NUTA grabbing some of them.
"We're fully geared up for polls. We've appointed two retired officials — former registrar Subhash Belsare and ex-deputy registrar SS Bharambe — having vast experience in conducting the elections. The registrar is the returning officer for the entire process and he will depute officials for it. Preparations have already been made for voting at outstation centres," vice-chancellor SP Kane told TOI.
SM, which will contest all the seats this time, is hopeful of an impressive performance. "We are sure of winning the majority. SM is purely an academic organization and has nothing to do with the BJP government," coordinator Kalpana Pande said.
Taywade already declared that there would no pre-poll alliance with SM and NUTA, but they will fight majority of seats. "We didn't get qualified candidates for some of BOS seats, but for others, we're fielding experienced ones. Currently, we don't have any pact with other parties, but can't say anything about post-election period," he said.
Senior SP leader Dinesh Agrawal said though he and a couple of other leaders were not contesting polls, they have fielded quality candidates who will be able to strongly raise various issues related to students, teachers and other stakeholders of NU.
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