Thrissur: The Thrissur District committee of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) is all set to approach the Kerala High Court at the earliest to demand a reelection to the chairperson's post at the Sree Kerala Varma College here.
Talking to media persons on Thursday at the DCC Office, district president of the union Gokul Guruvayur said that KSU's chairperson candidate S Sreekuttan won the election. "However, SFI and the pro-Left college teachers’ association members present at the recounting overturned the students' verdict in SFI's favour," he alleged.
Sreekuttan, a visually-impaired final-year political science student, who was also present at the press conference quipped that the number of ballots increased during the recounting and when the power failed at the counting centre twice on Wednesday late evening.
KSU leaders stated that they would take out a protest march to the Cochin Devaswom Board that runs the Kerala Varma College. They have already registered a complaint with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calicut regarding the irregularities in the conduct of elections.
On Wednesday evening, after the first counting, it was widely circulated among the college students and social media that Sreekuttan emerged victorious by a single ballot, securing 896 votes. The KSU activists began celebrations as this was the first time in the past 41 years that KSU had won the chairperson post at the Kerala Varma College, traditionally an SFI bastion.
However, the situation at the campus changed after the SFI activists demanded a recounting of the votes. Though KSU workers cooperated with the recounting initially, they walked out later alleging discrepancies. According to KSU activists, ‘valid ballots in favour of Sreekuttan were turned down by the election returning officer as invalid votes'.
SFI candidate KS Anirudhan who secured 900 votes was declared the winner by a margin of 11 votes at 12.30 am on Thursday.
KSU state president to go on indefinite hunger strike
Intensifying its protest against the alleged democratic coup, KSU state president Aloysius Xavier will go on an indefinite hunger strike near the Thrissur Corporation office from 7 pm on Thursday. KSU vice-president M J Yadhukrishnan said that such tendencies which undermine democracy cannot be encouraged.
