BHUBANESWAR: With a few hours to go before their fate is sealed in the ballot boxes, the university and college campuses in the city were abuzz with activity. The aspirants put up their one last show in ‘What I Stand For’ campaign on Wednesday. The students’ unions would go to polls on Thursday and this is their last chance to woo the students. Utkal University saw colourful processions by the two presidential candidates before the ‘What I Stand For’ meeting. Tanmoy Swain’s procession was followed by rival Jyoti Ranjan Prusty amidst heavy security arrangements to ward off any disturbance on the campus. As the run-up to election was marred by violence in several colleges, the issue was reflected in the speeches made by the candidates. Jyoti spoke about the fear among the supporters in the aftermath of bombing at Vice-Chancellor Prof PK Sahu’s residence two days back. Tanmoy gave a powerful speech, punctuated by loud rounds of applause from his supporters and claimed to remove ‘Goonda Raj’ from the campus. It could be achieved, he said, through a strong leadership. Similar was the story in rest of the colleges where candidates spoke on why they participated in the election and why will they make better office-bearers. The candidates also came in stylised costumes in some colleges. In Rama Devi Women’s College, one of the presidential candidates was made to wear a turban as part of the promotional campaign. With election process running into the last leg, Commissionerate Police also deployed force on most of the campuses. At least four platoon police will stand guard to ensure the polling is conducted in smooth manner. “We have deployed PCR vans as well as the vehicles of local police in and around the colleges. Inside the college campus, our objective will be to deter any disturbance and outside, we will keep a close watch on the law and order situation,” Bhubaneswar DCP Nitinjit Singh said.
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