It’s been just a week since the Assembly polls got over. But vote seeking has just begun at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, as the students’ union elections under the Kerala University of Health Sciences have been scheduled for April 17.
Medicos wearing face masks are seen roaming around in groups campaigning for their candidates. The elections could not be held last year owing to the pandemic. For the past over one-and-a-half decades, the main contest is between Independents, an apolitical students’ organisation, and the Students Federation of India (SFI).
The Independents have been winning all the general seats in the students union since 2003 and are hoping to retain them. “Mainstream students outfits such as the SFI, Kerala Students Union, and the Muslim Students Federation are controlled by outside forces. They cannot make an independent stand on crucial issues. For example, the SFI could not condemn the murder of Muslim Youth League activist Mansoor in Panoor, because they are affiliated to the CPI(M), whose workers are allegedly behind the incident,” Shawn Thomas, chairperson candidate for Independents, told The Hindu on Tuesday.
He claimed that the Independents could take a stand on and express their views as it was not aligned to any political organisation. “We have expressed solidarity with the farmers’ agitation. We have also supported the movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act,” Mr. Thomas said. The Independents are also showcasing their work done in the past for a re-election to the office.
The SFI, however, calls this apolitical, anti-Left jugglery of words.
“They are feeding the students with fear about politics, saying it is all about violence. Also, an insider versus outsider binary is being created to claim that mainstream students organisations are controlled by others,” K.K. Danish Rahman, the SFI’s chairperson candidate, said.
He alleged that the students union was yet to address issues on the campus such as waste disposal, stray dog menace, and the lack of hostel facilities for first-year undergraduate students.