Prananath College Poll: 46 Nominations Valid, Five Rejected ;Three Candidates in Contest for Students’ Union President; Scrutiny Completed.

Dillip Kumar Pattnaik

KHORDHA, OCTOBER 9:The students’ union election at Prananath Autonomous College in Khordha for the academic session 2026–27 has moved to the next stage, with 46 nomination papers declared valid and five rejected following scrutiny. The college authorities have published the list of eligible candidates, setting the stage for electoral contests to various office-bearer positions in the union and its affiliated societies and guilds.

The scrutiny of nomination papers was conducted by the principal-cum-election officer as part of the prescribed electoral process. The publication of the final list of valid nominations has brought greater clarity to the field of contestants, with students turning their attention to the key positions in the students’ union and the different campus bodies.
According to the list released by the college, five candidates have been declared eligible for various posts in the Athletic Society. They are Wahid Ali Khan, Sai Sundaram, Dipti Ranjan Jena, Ashripad Mishra and Amarjyoti Singh Mandhata.
The Commerce Society has seven candidates whose nominations have been accepted. They are Ranjit Pattnaik, Debakalyan Das, Urjita Mohapatra, Manoj Barik, Mohammad Suhail, Kadambini Parida and Sahid Khan.
Similarly, seven candidates have been cleared for different posts in the Dramatic Society. They include Priyadarshini Behera, Satyaranjan Baral, SK Sadiq, Pralaya Mahakhud, Raghunath Sethi, Debashish Parida and Karisma Parween. The Science Society has three valid candidates — Satyabrata Tripathy, Biswajit Das and Sujal Das. Five candidates have also been declared eligible for various positions in the Social Service Guild. They are Anshuman Subuddhi, Akhtar Khan, SK Erfan, Sushil Dash and Laxmipriya Behera. For the Students’ Common Room, the valid candidates are MD Sahid, Shruti Tripathy, SK Nawed, Laxmipriya Priyadarshini and Rajbir Dalei.
The main Students’ Union has 13 candidates whose nominations have been accepted. The list includes Sanjit Kumar Sethi, Amarjit Senapati, Trilochan Maharana, Manas Ranjan Sahu, Rakesh Kandi, Balia Gochhayat, Dipti Ranjan Sahu, D. Nandini, Pratyushmita Nayak, Subhadarshini Behera, Biswajit Subuddhi, Narendra Kumar Sahu and Dadhibaman Das.
The contest for the president’s post is set to be a three-cornered affair, with D. Nandini, Pratyushmita Nayak and Subhadarshini Behera entering the fray. Manas Ranjan Sahu has a valid nomination for the post of general secretary, while Sanjit Kumar Sethi is contesting for assistant general secretary. Biswajit Subuddhi has been listed as a candidate for vice-president.
Meanwhile, five nominations have been rejected during scrutiny. Shubham Kumar Behera’s nomination for assistant secretary of the Day Scholars’ Association, Sushree Sangeeta Das’s nomination for secretary of the Dramatic Society, Suprakash Behera’s nomination for secretary of the Humanities Society, Parimita Parida’s nomination for assistant secretary of the Students’ Common Room and Shubhajit Pattnaik’s nomination for vice-president of the Students’ Union have been rejected.
The students’ union election is an important exercise in campus democracy, providing students with a platform to represent their concerns and engage with college authorities on academic, administrative and welfare-related matters. The elected representatives are expected to raise issues concerning campus infrastructure, student facilities, extracurricular activities and the overall academic environment.
The election process is being conducted under the applicable guidelines and directions governing college students’ union polls, including relevant recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee and instructions issued by the Higher Education Department. Adherence to the prescribed election rules and code of conduct will remain essential as the process advances.
With the scrutiny completed and the list of valid candidates published, the election has entered a crucial phase. The three-way contest for the president’s post and the candidates contesting other key positions are likely to draw particular attention as students await the subsequent stages of the electoral process.