Bhubaneswar, July 21: The authorities of the Utkal University today decided not to go ahead with this year’s student union polls, evoking protest from students. The decision to skip the student union election this year was taken at the PG Council meeting held today and was said to be a fallout of campus violence last week.

Apparently, the student clash that had taken place on the varsity campus last week compelled the authorities to cancel this year’s student polls. “To concentrate on academics and keeping in mind that the polls can make the campus tension worsen, we decided not to hold student polls during the current academic session,” said chairman of the PG council P.K. Mishra.

The varsity campus had almost turned into a battlefield last week with five students being injured in a clash.

However, student leaders opposed the move to cancel the student union polls. “We will demand for polls to be held once normality is restored on campus,” said outgoing student union president Tanmay Swain.

This is the third occasion in the past four years when student union polls have been cancelled at the varsity.