Bhubaneswar, Oct. 14: The Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), the BJD's students' wing, today won the union polls in most of the universities and colleges across the state.

BCJD president Byomkesh Ray claimed that the party had won around 99 per cent of the total seats across the state with a victory margin ranging between 500 and 1,000. The Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI), on the other hand, claimed to have won 66 per cent of the total seats. The BJP's student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), said it had won 30 seats.

Barring stray incidents of violence, the polls were by and large peaceful in the state's 686 colleges and eight universities, where students cast their votes between 8am and 12pm. Adequate police personnel were deployed on university and college campuses and the entry of outsiders was strictly prohibited.

BCJD's Megha Kanungo and Anisha Subudhi were declared the president and general secretary, respectively, of Rama Devi Women's University in Bhubaneswar.

The party also won the polls at the Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, where post-poll violence led the authorities to close the varsity sine die.

At BJB Autonomous College, BCJD's Lagnajit Patra and Smruti Ranjan were declared the president and general secretary respectively. Similarly, at Debray College, BCJD's Bulu Gouda won the president's post.

Jubilant winners and their supporters took out processions, with students dancing to the beats of dhols and drums.

Ronali Roy, a NSUI contestant, who won at Rama Devi Women's University, said: "I am elated with all the love and support shown by my friends and teachers. I want to thank all of them. I am taking my friends to Puri to celebrate the victory."

The swearing in ceremony of elected students' union representatives will be held tomorrow following which the varsities and colleges will be closed for the Puja vacations.

Ravenshaw violence

Two BCJD rival groups clashed at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack soon after the results were declared.

Eyewitnesses said that the two groups clashed during the victory procession. BCJD's Ramya Ranjan Behera had defeated his rival candidate Swagat Meher by a margin of 101 votes to be elected the president of the students' union.

The irate students went on a rampage, damaging vehicles, mostly motorcycles parked inside the campus. Police rushed to the spot and brought the matter under control.

The varsity was closed sine die following the post-poll violence. The university authorities asked the students to vacate the campus immediately.

Vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University Prakash Chandra Sarangi said: "Keeping in view the unrest on the campus after the poll results, we have decided to take such move. Now the police are free to take appropriate action against the troublemakers. The oath-taking ceremony, which was scheduled for tomorrow, has also been postponed," said Sarangi.

Three platoons of police have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

Recounting was on at Capital Law College in Bhubaneswar after a group alleged that the votes were not counted correctly.

Good show

The winning streak of the BCJD continued at Berhampur, Balasore and Sambalpur with the outfit winning a majority of the posts at educational institutions in these districts.

While Rakesh Kumar Sarangi and Pramod Kumar Senapati were elected president and general secretary, respectively, at Berhampur University, Suman Sai Mohapatra and Rashmiranjan Pradhan have won the posts of president and vice-president at FM College in Balasore.

Similarly, Manas Ranjan Bharas has been elected as president and C. Sudha Nair has become vice-president of the students' union at Sambalpur University. At the Gangadhar Meher University, Surya Kanta Sahu has been elected the president.

Additional reporting by Vikash Sharma in Cuttack, Sunil Patnaik in Berhampur, Subrat Mohanty in Sambalpur and Sibdas Kundu in Balasore