Hyderabad: The recounting for the University of Hyderabad (UoH) Students’ Union (SU) presidential election was delayed to Saturday, November 2.
Initially, the recounting proposed for Friday, November 1, was met with resistance from various student organisations stating statutory violations. Later, the protesters agreed to go with the decision of the election commission of the university considering the upcoming Academic Council (AC) meeting.
On Wednesday, October 30, a circular was released by the election commission announcing a recounting for the post of president. The result of the 2024-2025 UoH-SU presidential election was kept on hold by the election commission earlier this week. The arbitrary nature of the declaration raised suspicion among several student organisations and university students.
Both the election commission and the grievance commission have allegedly failed to address the concern raised on ambiguity regarding the justification to go for a recounting.
Furthermore, open violations of the Lyngdoh commission report and students union constitution regarding the declaration were pointed out by the concerned parties. The lack of transparency in the working of the election grievance commission also invited protests from the students.
The grievance commission was called partisan earlier, owing to the fact that a student member in the commission was an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
In a recent turn of events, the protesting students have agreed to go for a recounting given the upcoming AC meeting. The students also raised concerns about a veiled attempt to curb the functioning of the student union.
According to a joint statement issued by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA), Dalit Students’ Union (DSU), and Bahujan Students’ Front (BSF), a letter was submitted accepting the proposal for recounting.
“The university administration has wholeheartedly decided to put an end to campus democracy. Recent arbitrary announcements and repeated violations of the student union constitution support the same. Further delay in the recounting process is going to obstruct the working of SU, especially, considering the upcoming AC meeting. In the long term, the delay can also be used by the administration as a plot for complete delegitimisation of the union’s activities,” a senior member of SFI told Siasat.com.
The university registrar announced the appointment of observers for the recounting process through a circular issued on Wednesday, October 30. Prof. A. Brahmanandam from the School of Life Sciences and Prof. Salman Abdul Moiz from the School of Computer and Information Sciences have been designated as observers.
UoH student elections for president’s seat a close match
The result of the 2024-25 UoH student union election was announced originally on Sunday, October 25.
A Umesh Ambedkar of the ASA-BSF-DSU-SFI coalition emerged victorious in the presidential election by a margin of 18 votes. Umesh collected 1313 votes, whereas his closest opponent and former general secretary of ABVP-HCU Akash Bhati, who contested as an independent collected 1295 votes.
The recent election followed the abrupt dissolution of the previous students’ union, which was communicated through a circular issued by the Dean of Students’ Welfare (DSW) on October 15.
Notably, the election was called without convening a University General Body Meeting (UGBM), raising questions about the decision-making process leading up to this electoral cycle and was widely condemned by various student organisations on campus.
The recent events on the campus including increasing cases of ABVP-sponsored violence and open interventions of RSS inside the campus are raising concerns among the students. The university administration, on the other hand, is allegedly aiding the activities of Sangh Parivar forces inside the campus.
| 
