Bhubaneswar, Sept. 23: The Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), the students' wing of the BJD, stole the show at the majority of colleges and universities winning most of the seats in polls held across the state today.

Although the major students' organisations, including the BCJD, Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) are yet to compile the final state-wide data, initial reports indicate a sweeping victory for the ruling party's student wing on most campuses.

Reports of sporadic violence emerged throughout the day during the polls that were held around 375 colleges.

At the Rajdhani College, BCJD-backed candidates Rajat Kumar Parida and Madhab Ranjan Sahoo were elected president and vice-president, respectively. At the Debray College, Ambika Samantray and Rajesh Kumar Satpathy were elected to the central panel as president and vice-president, respectively. Both were backed by the BCJD.

Elections to the Rama Devi Women's University students' union was disrupted over alleged distribution of cash among students for votes. A group of students alleged that BCJD members were offering Rs 500 to students to vote in favour of the candidate backed by them. A picture of a student holding a rose and a Rs 500 currency went viral on social media, adding fuel to the fire.

However, the BCJD has rubbished the allegations. Despite allegations of cash-for-votes, BCJD-backed Soubhagya Soumyashree Samal was elected president of the varsity's students' union.

'I will do my best to work for the development of the university and the students' community,' she said.

Though the ABVP could not cut its teeth in the top institutes of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, it claimed victory in other prominent institutions, such as the Fakir Mohan University, Jatni College and the Kendrapara Autonomous College.

Earlier, pre-poll violence had forced the authorities to cancel elections at the BJB (Autonomous) College, Utkal University and the University Law College. Most of the colleges witnessed a huge number of students turning up for the polls. It was compulsory for students to be in uniform and carry their identity cards in order to be eligible for voting. All college authorities made adequate security arrangements to prevent a re-run of poll-related violence that had become the norm a few years ago.

The polls were conducted amid tight security between 8am and 2pm, after which the counting began. The results were declared at 5.30pm, following which celebrations erupted on campuses across the state.