UDSF to boycott Calicut varsity DSU polls

The United Democratic Students’ Front (UDSF), a coalition of the Kerala Students’ Union and the Muslim Students’ Federation, has decided to boycott the departmental students’ union (DSU) polls in the University of Calicut scheduled for Friday, October 31.

The election earlier held on October 10 was cancelled following allegations of procedural lapses.

A release from the UDSF campus committee said on Thursday that a police complaint had been filed against its candidates holding them responsible for the alleged destruction of university properties during the election. As per the recommendation of the J.M. Lyngdoh committee, if the candidates contesting in a students’ union election are found to have been involved in violence, they could be disqualified.

The UDSF leaders claimed that the police complaint filed by Satheesh Palanki, who was the returning officer for the election held earlier, and V.A. Shahana, president of the DSU, was an attempt to disqualify their candidates in the event of their victory. They also alleged that Mr. Palanki and Mr. Shahana were trying to cover up the violation of rules they had resorted to during the previous election.

Meanwhile, functionaries of the Students Federation of India (SFI) university campus committee said in a release that the UDSF was running away from the election as it was sure of getting defeated in the process. The SFI leaders also alleged that UDSF leaders had manhandled teachers and damaged polling materials on October 10.