Nagpur: A day after postponing the graduates’ constituency of Senate polls scheduled on December 11, the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) administration has immediately declared new dates. As per the new notification issued by Registrar Raju Hiwase, the polls will be held on Saturday, December 17, from 8 am to 4 pm. The counting will be held on Monday, December 19, from 10 am at the Jamnalal Bajaj Administrative campus.
On Wednesday, RTMNU had deferred polls citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city on December 11. Its counsel made this announcement in the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. The HC then adjourned the hearing on a petition filed by Manmohan Bajpayee till December 14.
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As per the reports, the Nagpur University should not have rushed into announcing the new dates. “The HC decision may go either way. If it allows the petition, NU needs to cancel the earlier list of registered graduates and make a new one with new criteria. The process would take about a month’s time. However, Vice-Chancellor Subhash Chaudhri and Pro-VC Sanjay Dudhe were keen on December 17, under the obvious pressure from the few political outfits,” reports said.
Officials said that NU would again face embarrassment if new polling dates are to be announced in such a situation. The contestants and voters would blame the administration for confusing them over the dates. The top bosses should have waited at least till the HC verdict. We also have not published about three lakh ballot papers for the polls. We need to work on war-footing to print them and make other arrangements, they said.
The University authorities appear to have not even considered other events before selecting the dates. The Gram Panchayat elections are scheduled on December 18 and most of the teachers will be on election duty. Secondly the decision on the petition related to the University elections is on the agenda of the High Court on December14.
The University may face ignominy of again changing the dates of polling.
