Students’ union polls at Kozhikode Medical College to be triangular

KSU, MSF have fielded candidates this time

This year’s students’ union elections at the Government Medical College (GMC), Kozhikode, are a triangular contest, unlike previous years when it used to be a direct fight between Independents and the Students Federation of India (SFI).

According to sources, the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) have also fielded candidates for the post of chairperson, one university union councillor, and two batch representatives, under the banner of United Democratic Students’ Front. The elections in medical colleges affiliated to the Kerala University of Health Sciences this year are scheduled for June 4.

The Independents, a students’ collective not aligned with any major political party, have been winning all the general seats in the union since 2003. Jestin Benny, chairperson candidate for Independents, exuded the confidence that the winning streak would continue this year too.

“Ours is the only students’ organisation that takes an unbiased view on issues. We are not scared of pointing out mistakes of anyone. The students in our college do not need outsiders to control our affairs. We have been winning continuously because there is some truth in our stand,” he said on Wednesday.

C. Ananthu, chairperson candidate for the SFI, said the atmosphere on the campus had changed this time. An SFI candidate has been elected unopposed as UUC for PG students and the organisation is winning a general seat here after a long time. “Independents have been propagating apolitical ideas all along. This year, however, there is a perceptible change and students are slowly turning more political. The entry of the KSU and the MSF will have some impact on the polls,” he pointed out.

Amal Saneen, KSU unit president, said that the victory of the candidates put up by the Independents were not benefiting students any more. “We entered into the election fray with a slogan that organisations such as the SFI should be opposed through a political platform and not by raising apolitical slogans,” he added.