Curtains came down on the five-day Kerala University Youth Festival here on Saturday amidst allegations of foul play and corruption.
On the last day of the fete, the main venue at Sree Narayana College witnessed a clash between students and organisers when some irregularities came to light. Divya Vijayan and Merin Mary Philip, who were adjudged winners in Kuchipudi and Kathaprasangam, lost their position to Mahalakshmi S., a Mar Ivanios College student, when the media committee came up with fresh results around Friday midnight.
The participants alleged that the University Union, organisers of the fete, manipulated the results to help the Mar Ivanios student to win the Kalathilakam title. The complainants had support from other participants, as all were surprised by the Mar Ivanios girl suddenly vaulting to top with 21 points.
“The Kuchipudi results were announced two days ago and all the dailies carried my picture as the first prize winner. But on Friday around 2 a.m., Mahalakshmi replaced my name. She wasn’t in the first three positions when the results were first declared and suddenly she is the winner,” said a teary-eyed Divya, a student of Christ Nagar College, Malayinkeezhu. Merin Mary Philip from Gregorian College of Advanced Studies, Alathara, alleged that the organisers manipulated Kathaprasangam results in 2017 as well. “This year, they changed the results overnight, relegating me to the second position. When we contacted the judges, they said Mahalakshmi has only third position,” she said. Amidst growing protests, the results were reviewed by a committee, finally announcing Divya and Merin as winners.
Following the unruly scenes at the venue, the valedictory function started three hours late. When the results were announced, Reshma M., another contestant from Mar Ivanios, was declared Kalathilakam. The title winner was conspicuous by her absence.
Mar Ivanios retained their championship with 185 points and Sarun Raveendran R. from St. Michael’s College, Cherthala, bagged the title of Kalaprathibha. Director Kamal distributed the prizes.
The fete organisers came under fire on Friday too when SFI volunteers manhandled Sreedhar Lal, a photographer with the Kerala Kaumudi, who tried capturing the image of a Chakyarkoothu contestant who collapsed on stage.
