Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 4 : Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) on Tuesday demanded that student union elections in Madhya Pradesh be conducted through the direct election system after the High Court directed the state government to hold the polls in September.
Addressing a press conference in Bhopal, NSUI state president Ashutosh Chouksey said the organisation had been consistently fighting for the restoration of student union elections, which have remained pending in the state for nearly nine years. He added the High Court issued the directions while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by NSUI state secretary Adnan Ansari in 2024.
"Nearly after nine years, the High Court, while hearing a PIL filed by an NSUI colleague, has directed the government to conduct student union elections in Madhya Pradesh in the first week of September. NSUI has been demanding direct student union elections for several years through protests, public campaigns and finally through the court. Now the government will have to implement it," Chouksey said.
The NSUI leader alleged that previously the student union elections held in 2017 were merely a formality and did not reflect the true democratic process.
"Student union elections teach lakhs of students about democracy and democratic processes in college campuses. Many leaders in Madhya Pradesh, including Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and several others, emerged from student politics. We do not understand why the BJP government does not want to conduct direct student union elections," he added.
Chouksey urged the state government to conduct the elections through the direct voting system and warned that NSUI would launch a statewide agitation if the demand was not accepted.
NSUI state secretary Adnan Ansari said the legal battle over student union elections had been ongoing and described the High Court's decision as a victory for students across the state.
"The High Court's decision on the PIL is not just a victory for NSUI but for lakhs of students in Madhya Pradesh. Students in the state had been deprived of their democratic rights since 2017. The last student union elections in Madhya Pradesh were held in 2017 and since then, student union fees have continued to be collected from students every year, but they have been deprived of their rights," Ansari said.
He further said he had first sought information from the Higher Education Department and universities regarding the delay, but after receiving no response, he approached the High Court in 2024 through a Public Interest Litigation.
"I informed the court that every year the democratic rights of students were being violated, as student union fees were being collected from them while they were being denied their rightful representation. The court sought a reply from the state government, which continued to provide for elections in the academic calendar but failed to hold them. After the government finally placed the 2026-27 academic calendar before the court, the High Court directed it to conduct student union elections in September as per the calendar and restore the democratic rights of students," Ansari said.
Responding to the development, Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Indar Singh Parmar said the government is examining the High Court's directions and will take a decision soon.
"The court has issued certain directions. Our department is examining them. We have discussed the matter with the Chief Minister and a decision will be taken soon. We will fully comply with the directions of the court," Parmar said.
On August 3, the High Court directed the Madhya Pradesh government to conduct student body elections in every college and university across the state.