Political watchers, Opposition leaders and even some TMC insiders believe that the South Calcutta Law College (Kasba campus) gang rape and the unchecked monopoly of the ruling party's student leaders such as accused rapist Monojit Mishra stem from the lack of student union polls over the past eight years across Bengal's college campuses.
They pointed out that if regular elections had been held in colleges and universities, incidents like last year’s RG Kar rape and murder and the Kasba "gang rape" could have been avoided.
The absence of an elected body gave individuals like Mishra unchecked power without official accountability.
“No elections mean no responsibility. This accused leader (Mishra) enjoyed power without holding any official post in the college. In the absence of elections, no new student leaders emerged who could have protested against criminal activities on campus,” said political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty.
Mishra was not only an alumnus, but was also appointed as temporary non-teaching staff by the college's governing body led by TMC's Budge Budge MLA Ashok Kumar Deb. The appointment highlights Mishra's proximity to the ruling party, despite its claims of "distance since 2022" and “zero tolerance” for his crime.
Multiple sources said those who used to oppose Mishra used to be sidelined from the union and he formed a team with aides like the other two arrested students to control the campus.
Student union elections in most colleges and universities are due since 2013, following the death of a police officer on duty outside Harimohan Ghose College, Garden Reach, who was shot during a turf war between student groups.
On June 6, 2017, the Mamata Banerjee government published a gazette notification stating that polls in colleges and universities would be held every two years under the West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Composition, Functions and Procedure for Election of Students’ Council) Rules, 2017. Except for a few unitary universities like Jadavpur, Presidency and Rabindra Bharati, campus polls have not been conducted since.
Addressing the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad foundation day on August 28 last year, Mamata announced that her government would initiate the process of student union elections in all colleges and universities after Durga Puja.
No such process was initiated.
In March last year, following a PIL filed in Calcutta High Court, the division bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam directed the Bengal government to file "within two weeks" an affidavit stating its “clear stand” on how it proposes to conduct student union elections in state-aided colleges and universities. A source said the state government sought more time.
CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty claimed that TMC intentionally avoided holding student body elections to ensure control of campuses by a handful of "goons".
“If there had been free and fair elections every year, such incidents could have been averted. New student leaders would have emerged every year. Because of the absence of elections, people and even criminals who are otherwise eligible to contest MLA or MP elections have been enjoying powers of student unions,” said Chakraborty.
Sources said the TMC leadership has distanced itself from student elections to avoid potential internal conflicts on campuses. Several TMC insiders believe that the internal factionalism, perennially shoved under the carpet, could erupt violently on the streets if college union elections were to be held.
BJP leaders like Samik Bhattacharya said that the TMC never allowed fair elections and even if elections were held, the control of colleges and universities would still be with "criminals or local councillors of the party (TMC)".
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari claimed the only way to end campus brutality was Mamata's ouster.
Trinamool spokesperson Tanmoy Ghosh, however, said that campus polls would be conducted in due time and delays were only due to administrative and legal issues. We want elections on campus," he said.