Patna: Patna University on Tuesday cancelled Divyanshu Bhardwaj and Yoshita Patwardhan's elections as president and vice-president, respectively, of Patna University Students' Union (Pusu) based on the recommendations of a probe committee, which submitted its report last week.
After being denied a ticket by the RSS-backed student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Divyanshu contested as an Independent and won. Patwardhan was an ABVP nominee. The students' union elections were held on February 17 after a five-year gap. The results were declared the same day. Divyanshu won the president's post while ABVP nominees won the posts of vice-president, general secretary and treasurer.
Patna University vice-chancellor R.B.P Singh took the decision to cancel their elections on Tuesday. A notice to this effect was upoaded on the university's website.
A large number of ABVP members and supporters of Divyanshu staged a protest against the university administration. They even tried to barge into the campus by breaking the main entrance gate.
"The university administration took this decision under pressure from Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan a.k.a Pappu Yadav," ABVP member Pappu Verma said. "We have urged the VC to review the decision."
Patna University registrar Rabindra Kumar said Divyanshu's candidature was found untenable because he took admission into Himalayan University in Itanagar during the same academic session (2014-17) when he was a student of BN College under Patna University. The university also decided to take initiatives to cancel Divyanshu's admission into Patna University on the basis of the above facts.
With regard to Yoshita Patwardhan, the probe panel found she had concealed that she was a student of Magadh Mahila College and had academic arrearsbut submitted a wrong declaration and affidavit in this regard. The administration will also issue a show-cause notice to the college administration to explain how it forwarded her application.
The university did not find any arrears against the third candidate, Chand Azad.
