Heckled by students over the cancellation of union elections, the vice-chancellor of Odisha’s oldest university sat on a 12-hour-long dharna before his office in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday morning. Calling it ‘Introspective Silent Fasting’, Patnaik began his dharna at 8 am, a day after he was surrounded and barricaded by students inside his office. The decision was met with howls of protest from students groups affiliated to three major political parties, the Biju Janata Dal, Congress and BJP. They demanded the authorities reconsider the issue and conduct the students’ union poll this year as the university is an autonomous body. Last year, Biju Chhatra Janata Dal, the student wing of the ruling BJD, had won the student’s union polls in the university.

Source: Hindustan Times October 10, 2017 13:07 UTC