‘Modi-Tufan’! Well, it seems the BJP’s so-called ‘Tufan’ is facing a hard time as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) failed to gather candidates for more than 500 seats in the upcoming college student council elections in Left-ruled Tripura. The number of total seats combining office bearers and class representatives are 778, this year. It has been alleged that ‘out of frustration’ over the failure, ABVP supporters are attacking ‘closed council rooms’ to disrupt the normal election process which is scheduled to be held on September 12.

Tripura has 22 Government degree colleges. Submission of nomination papers for the elections have already closed on September 6. After the inspection of all nomination papers it is already clear that Left student alliance of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Tribal Student’s Union (TSU), is winning the majority of the student councils uncontested, as the opposition has failed to arrange candidates for the same posts. Combining the total number of seats for Office Bearers (393) and Class Representatives (385), among 778 seats, ABVP or any other opposition student organization has failed to gather enough seats.

Although the election will take place in some major colleges, but not for all the posts as here also SFI-TSU candidates are only present for all seats. As per the last report received, SFI-TSU alliance will be declared as winner, in not less than 10 colleges, completely uncontested. The final result is yet to be declared.

For last few months, the RSS affiliated student organization ABVP had tried their level best to arrange as much support support as they could through various means in Tripura. Different incidents had been reported while the nomination process was ongoing. In Fatikroy College of Kumarghat, Unakoti District, situated near about 133 kms away from the state capital of Agartala, ABVP supporters with hundreds of ‘unknown’ persons with saffron flags in their hands tried to enter college premises to disrupt the nomination process last Monday. BBMC College students claim a similar attempt the next day. Videos and images clearly show that non students with saffron flags targeted the closed council room and vandalized the furniture, and interior of the room.

SFI leaders alleged that people shouting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jay’ attacked that council room and damaged the photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekanand, Dr BR Ambedkar and other leaders inside the room. ABVP leaders claim that any citizen of India can enter college premises. Although at the time of elections only the students of the same institution are allowed to be entered in the respective campuses as per the rule of college authority.

Tripura will have assembly elections on next year i.e. 2018 and the upcoming college student council elections are already being framed as the ‘Semi-Final’ for CPIM led ruling Left front and the present main opposition BJP. After 2014 Loksabha elections, top BJP-RSS leaders are continuously visiting the state. They have already announced the advance ‘Parivartan’ in the state government. But the present pictures of upcoming student election in college campuses reflect a different message.