Bhubaneswar, Oct. 1: Ending days of speculation, the postgraduate council of Utkal University has stuck to its decision of not holding students' union elections this year.

"We kept a watch on the law and order situation on the campus since we made the announcement about cancelling the elections. However, it has largely remained unchanged. Therefore, we have unanimously decided to stand by our previous decision of not holding the elections this year," council chairman Ranjan Kumar Bal said.

The advisory committee of the varsity yesterday submitted its report to the council.

Once the decision was made public, tension was palpable on the campus with poll aspirants and their supporters staging protests.

"We don't understand this talk of violence and law and order situation. We don't see anything and I am sure none of the students have had problems in the past few weeks. This is simply an excuse to shirk responsibility," said Rajesh Raj, a student.

Three platoons of police have been deployed on campus to prevent further deterioration of law and order.

"We are shocked by the council's decision. There has been no violence on the campus during the past few weeks and campaigning was going on peacefully," said another student Amit Jena.

On September 25, agitation that followed the initial announcement of cancellation of elections took an ugly turn when 43-year-old Suman Sharma panicked and died of cardiac arrest inside her car. The sight of protesters rushing towards her car had triggered the heart attack, Suman's family members had alleged.

The authorities had decided to cancel the elections following a letter by police commissioner R.P. Sharma citing deterioration of law and order because of campus violence. However, on the written request by student groups last week, they had decided to review the possibility of holding the elections.

This is not the first time elections have been cancelled at the varsity. It was after a gap of two years that polls were held in 2014.