Out of 26K registered voters for Mumbai University senate poll, half deemed ineligible

The iconic Rajabai Tower, which stands on the Fort campus of MU. File pic

The Mumbai University (MU) senate elections, long-awaited and overdue, appear to be jinxed. Following a string of controversies surrounding the registration of voters in the graduate constituency, which included accusations of duplication, fraudulent registrations, legal battles and the annulment of voter lists last year, the university has now announced that 50 per cent of the newly compiled voter list has been declared ineligible.

This has irked all the students and youth wings participating in the process. Highlighting the timing - the ongoing academic year is concluding and the general election is due to be held this year - youth wings have criticised MU. For the graduate constituency, a fresh voter registration process for 10 seats was conducted from October 30 to November 30, 2023. Subsequently, the verification of applications began on December 1 and continued until February 25, 2024. According to the schedule published by MU, the final voter list was released on February 26.

Following this, applications from candidates will be accepted on March 11, and the process, including verification, appeals, voting, and counting, will take place on April 21 and 24, respectively. On February 28, MU issued a circular with new instructions and schedules. Accordingly, registered voters will need to check for their names in the eligible and ineligible lists. The MU election department has provided a window from February 29 to March 4 for notifying any errors or seeking clarification in the newly published voting list.

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However, out of the total 26,744 registrations, 13,350, which is almost 50 per cent of voter registrations, have been declared ineligible. MU had announced the senate election for 10 seats in the graduate constituency and set August 18 as the last date for filing nominations.

The state government reiterated its request to re-examine the entire voter list and directed the MU under Section 8 (7) of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act to postpone the elections until the revised list was published, as stated in the affidavit. On the same day, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar wrote a letter to Higher Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, raising concerns over the final electoral roll, and on August 17, the government asked the university to investigate Shelar's complaint and defer the election. A three-member committee under the chairmanship of R S Mali, former VC of the Bahinabai Chaudhari Uttar Maharashtra University, Jalgaon was constituted.

The matter subsequently reached the Bombay High Court, which also directed MU to announce the revised schedule by October 25 after holding a hearing. The Higher and Technical Education Department of the government filed an affidavit in response to a petition filed by advocate Sagar Devre, who alleged the university©s decision to postpone the senate elections in September was influenced by "political pressure". Devre demanded the annulment of the circular issued by the MU on August 17, which deferred the elections originally scheduled for September 10.

Deore moved the higher court again alleging contempt and the next hearing for the case is scheduled for November 28. MU said that the decision to defer the elections was made following the statutory instructions of the state government.

The senate, consisting of representatives from teachers, principals, graduates, and college management, serves as the university©s oversight body and holds the authority to approve the budget. With no functioning senate since August 2022, due to the conclusion of its term, a significant portion of decision-making authority has been vested in the vice-chancellor.

Meanwhile, on October 25, the report by the three-member committee clarified that there was an error in the voter list prepared for the senate election (graduate constituency). Taking into consideration this report, the MU management council decided to redo the voter list. The voter registration was started anew thereafter. MU officials declined to comment on the issue.

"In the guise of making changes to curb duplication, university administration has turned the system into a farce," said Santosh Gangurde, student activist and state chief organiser of Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena. "In the previous modifications, old voters were required to rectify their existing forms and also submit a fresh one. There was a requirement to physically submit the form at the university's Fort campus. It seems straightforward to cross-check old forms for duplication and allow them to remain unchanged. This chaos has resulted in a poor response to the voter registration drive this time" he said.

Student representatives say the number of voters registered earlier was over a lakh. "They have actually made a mockery of the process," lamented Gangurde. Former senate member Pradeep Sawant added, "The ruling parties have a strong fear of losing and hence they have kept elections at all levels on hold.

Voter list published by MU

Eligible 13,394
Ineligible 13,350
Total 26,744