Itahari, March 21:

Activists of the Nepal Students’ Union (NSU) and ANNISU-R padlocked the Janata Multiple Campus in Itahari of Sunsari for an indefinite period today, to protest the declaration of ANNFSU candidates as winners in FSU polls by the election committee.

The NC and Maoist student wings alleged irregularity in vote counting. They also accused the committee of breaching an agreement among all sides on vote counting procedure.

They said the votes were counted in the absence of the representatives of the student unions. They have also demanded re-election in the campus.

The election committee had declared ANNFSU candidates as winners despite the fact that vote counting was postponed at 5 pm yesterday after the student unions failed to agree on four torn ballot papers found in the ballot boxes. During their scuffle, the students had also torn apart even the already counted ballot papers.

Deputy coordinator of the election committee, Tolnath Kafle, said, “The counting was carried out in the presence of the police on the suggestion of local representatives of the political parties and by exercising the power of the committee.”

ANNISU-R and FSU staged agitation after Kafle announced that ANNFSU won the polls.

At a press conference, ANNISU-R and FSU issued a joint statement accusing the election committee of announcing the results unilaterally. The Itahari city committee of the Nepali Congress also objected to the announcement of the results.

Though the ANNFSU was planning to take out a victory rally, it was shelved after the NSU and ANNISU-R announced to disrupt it. The ANNFSU is now planning to hold the rally tomorrow, a source said. However, the ANNISU-R and NSU stated that they would obstruct the rally at any cost.

According to the results announced by the election committee today, 10 members of ANNFSU, including Punam Chaudhari as president, were elected to the FSU. Dipa Niraula of

ANNISU-R has also been declared winner in a member’s post.

FSU polls fair: Madhav Nepal

Dhangadhi: Former general secretary of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal today claimed that the Free Students’ Union election held on Thursday in several campuses was free and fair.

Talking to mediapersons in Dhangadhi today,

Nepal said, “The results of FSU election are real and true. This time, the election was not affected by weapons, unlike in the CA polls. All students cast their votes freely.”

Saying that it was the mistake on the part of the political parties to take the Maoists to the government and CA polls, while they were still carrying weapons and they still had a parallel army, Nepal said, “It would have been better if the Maoist fighters had been managed before taking them to the government and the CA polls.”

“Due to the hangover of weapons, the Maoists are still involved in looting and intimidation tactics,” said the UML general. He said the Maoists were creating chaos in every sector in the country and that they were promoting impunity and lawlessness.

He also said the political parties should not exhibit rivalry in such a way that it could hamper the constitution-making process in any way. — HNS