Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi criticised the BJD for suspending campus polls for eight years. He said restoration of the polls reflected his government's trust in young people and commitment to student welfare.
Mohan Charan Majhi criticised the BJD for suspending campus polls for eight years.
Bhubaneswar,Oct 19, 2026 07:47 IST
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday criticised the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for not holding students' union elections for eight consecutive years while it was in power, claiming that the Naveen Patnaik-led party did not have faith in young people, news agency PTI reported.
Addressing the Young Leaders' Conclave in Cuttack, Majhi said the recent elections in colleges and universities were conducted without violence. He also outlined his government's initiatives for students, including free education and plans to build new hostels.
Majhi claimed that BJD leaders who began their political careers as students had remained silent over the cancellation of campus elections.
"Who had stopped them from speaking against the cancellation of the campus elections? They cancelled the students' union elections because they did not have faith in the youth," he said.
The Chief Minister said his government decided to hold the elections despite protests by students and Gen Z over alleged SIR irregularities.
"Some people had suggested that I should not hold the elections in view of the protests at the national level and that Gen Z was angry with the government. But I decided to conduct the polls because all this propaganda is limited to social media only," Majhi said, according to PTI.
Majhi pointed out that the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad won the Delhi University campus elections despite protests and what he described as misinformation against the government.
"We decided to hold the campus elections during the current academic year because we have strong faith in the youth of the state," he said.
Highlighting measures taken by his government for students, Majhi said education from kindergarten to postgraduate level had been made free at government institutions in Odisha.
He said new hostels would be built in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Balasore and Rourkela to accommodate college and university students. Bus services would also be provided to students staying in these hostels.
Majhi said his government had restored campus elections because it trusted the state's youth, while also providing free education and planning new hostels and transport services for students.
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