The Bhajan Lal Sharma government has submitted in the Rajasthan High Court that it can’t hold student union elections in the current academic year. The submission has been made in the matter of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Rajasthan University post-graduate student Jai Rao.Rao’s counsel, advocate Shantanu Pareek, said that the state government “submitted its reply today in the student union election PIL where it has submitted that it won’t hold student union elections for 2025-26 (academic year)”.“The state government has cited the meeting of Vice Chancellors on August 6 and April 12, where the VCs said that they are focusing on implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). They said that if student union elections are held, they will not be able to implement the NEP and hence, the VCs submitted that student union elections should not be held in the current circumstances,” Pareek said.As per the VCs’ meeting on August 6 — where at least nine VCs were present – one of the VCs said that the student union elections will be a hindrance to timely implementation of NEP. Another VC said that the elections will adversely affect the semester system. A third VC said that elections affect studies and the semester system, which in turn delays the results, and deprives students from taking admission in other states.Other VCs said that student union elections affect about two months’ time-table and that a mandatory 90 days’ teaching in each semester under the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) makes it difficult to hold student union elections.Interestingly, the Bhajan Lal Sharma government has followed a pattern similar to the Ashok Gehlot government in 2023, a state election year, when the Congress party was still smarting from NSUI having failed to win any president post in the student union election held a year ago in 2022. Like the Gehlot government, the Sharma government has cited the NEP and violation of Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations.In his petition, Rao had said that the “right to choose representative through the student union elections has been categorized as a fundamental right by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.” He had said that as per the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, the state government and Rajasthan University are “constitutionally duty bound to issue such circular/notification within 6-8 weeks from the commencement of the academic session” with regards to the student union election but that none has been issued yet.Story continues below this adApart from Rao, at least two other petitions were filed with regards to student union elections. The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on Thursday, August 14.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Bhajan Lal Sharma