9,000 more graduates register to vote in Mumbai university senate polls

Mumbai city news: In the last elections in 2010, 46,000 MU graduates had made it to the electoral roll.

More than 55,000 University of Mumbai (MU) graduates have registered to vote in the senate elections, which are slated to be held in August.

The University of Mumbai will hold senate elections in August. (HT FILE)

The university will hold the elections for its governing bodies including senate, management council, academic council, boards of studies and board of examination. These bodies are responsible for making policies and taking administrative and academic decisions. In the last elections in 2010, 46,000 MU graduates had made it to the electoral roll.

For the last two years, the university has been functioning without a full-fledged senate and other statutory bodies, as the state government was preparing to introduce Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016 and had put an embargo on elections for these bodies. The act was enacted on March 1. MA Khan, MU registrar, said, “The university administration is thankful to all the student organisations for their peaceful cooperation. We were able to attract more students this year.”

Of the 78 seats in MU senate, 10 have been allotted to representatives of graduates who are elected by an electoral college consisting registered graduates. Several student groups and student wings of political parties, who are in fray for MU senate, had run a month-long campaign to get varsity alumni to register as voters. “It was a bit tricky to get graduates to register as many of them were not aware of the process,” said Supriya Karande, former MU senate member from Yuva Sena.

The university said that it will publish a provisional electoral roll within a fortnight, after scrutinising the applications. The voters will have another five days to seek corrections in the list. Teachers, principals and members of management from MU affiliated colleges can register till July 4.

ABVP, Yuva Sena activists fight over voter registrations

Activists from Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Shiv Sena’s Yuva Sena had a fall-out at University of Mumbai campus in Fort on Friday over voter registrations.

Yuva Sena activists tried to get few graduates registered for varsity’s senate elections after the deadline. When ABVP activists protested, both groups entered began fighting. Security guards soon intervened and stopped them. “When we challenged Sena activists, they started abusing us. This led to some physical altercation,” said Rohit Chandode, ABVP’s Mumbai general secretary.

Saintah Durge, a Sena leader, said, “If they [ABVP activists] didn’t want us to register, they should have spoken to university administration.”