Kathmandu, March 20:

Nepal Students’ Union (NSU), the student wing of the main opposition Nepali Congress, today accused the Maoist-led government of abusing the state coffers and power to ensure victory of its student wing — All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) — in the Free Students’ Union election held yesterday. NSU president Pradip Poudel said the Maoist student wing did not get much success as portrayed by the media despite the widespread abuse of state power.

He also urged the media to publish and broadcast details of the results of the FSU election in a transparent manner. He urged the media to set criteria for labelling a student union a winner in colleges, as winning the post of president in a particular college was not the winning of the whole FSU body.

The NSU also demanded a fresh election schedule in the colleges, where the polls have been postponed, as soon as possible. He condemned the government for its failure to control the anarchy created by the pro-government student unions including the ANNFSU and ANNISU-R during the FSU election.

Poudel also announced that the union will arrange free medical treatment of NSU cadres injured during the poll-related violence.

He said students actively participated in FSU election despite the fact that ANNISU and ANNISU-R tried their best to spread chaos during the election. He also accused the leftist student unions of using a large number of non-students during the election. He informed that the NSU won the posts of president in 54 colleges. He said the single panels of NSU were elected in 27 colleges.

He said that there was not a logical reason to postpone the election at Padma Kanya College where polls were postponed after the election commissioner did not permit the ANNISU-R, ANNFSU-United and ANNFSU to contest as a single panel. Poudel said his organisation was, however, not going to declare itself winner at PK unlike the Maoist student wing, which had claimed itself winner in many colleges in Chitwan where the NSU had boycotted the polls.

Addressing a press conference organised by the union, he said there was no practical reason to postpone the polls in Ratna Rajya College, Nepal Law College, Bishwobhasa College and Saraswoti College as well. He claimed that the election was postponed in the said colleges as the ANNISU-R and ANNFSU were afraid of their defeat.

He said the government had used YCL to threaten and intimidate NSU candidates in Chitwan and that the YCL and PLA personnel prevented the NSU from taking part in the election.

He compared the FSU election with the local election conducted by the former king. He also accused the security personnel of acting as mere spectators when the Maoists were unleashing terror against NSU during the FSU polls.