Decode Politics: Why Maharashtra is reviving student elections after 33 years

Decode Politics: Why Maharashtra is reviving student elections after 33 years From banning it in 1994 to making a revival bid in 2016 only to freeze it in 2019, Maharashtra govt now moves to bring campus vote back after student unrest and protests.

Key points

• 7 min read Mumbai Sep 27, 2026 05: 57 AM IST First published on: Sep 26, 2026 at 07: 03 PM IST.
• After which the universities prepared election schedules for 2019, the state administration framed detailed rules for the 2016 Act in 2018.
• Most lately, I wrote to the Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil in August to review the state's decision on putting the student elections on hold.
• It approved Section 99B of the Maharashtra Public Universities (Second Amendment) Ordinance.
• The student union polls were barred in Maharashtra after campus politics was roiled by violence in the early 1990s.

Earlier this week, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti administration took a significant step aimed at reviving the student union elections on campus. (File Photo). Written by: Pallavi Smart.

In practice, the last time the college and university students in Maharashtra voted for their representatives was in 1993. Thirty-three years afterwards, earlier this week, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti administration took a significant step aimed at reviving the student union elections on campus.

On Thursday, the Higher and Technical Education Department constituted a 12-member committee headed by former Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor Prof Suhas Pednekar to work out a framework for the student union polls, giving the panel a month to submit its report.

In practice, the timing of the state government's move is significant. Over the past few months, a sizeable section of students have appeared to be restive, hitting the streets to hold protests over alleged irregularities in the education and examination system and demand accountability.

Gen Z can topple power, but on Maharashtra campuses, they haven't voted in over 30 years.

In July, thousands of students and youth participated in protests throughout Maharashtra over the NEET paper leak. In September, the death by suicide of 20-year-old IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode led to days of protests on campus, with students demanding action and changes in the institute's grievance and disciplinary mechanisms. The allegations created by Wakode's family against faculty members have been under investigation. How campus vote concluded?

Meanwhile, the student union polls were barred in Maharashtra after campus politics was roiled by violence in the early 1990s. In October 1989, NSUI student leader Owen D'Souza was killed outside a Mumbai college during campaigning. Subsequently, the state administration passed the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, to ban direct, competitive student elections. The government's justification was largely based on law and order since there were reservations concerning funds and muscle power and the entry of external political organisations into campuses.

Notably, the ban meant that an entire generation of students grew up without electing their Student Councils. Such Councils just continued in various unelected forms, but students did not have the ballot to choose their leaders.

Advocate Amol Matele from the NCP (SP). This person has written multiple letters to the state administration demanding the student elections' revival in the Maharashtra colleges and universities, has welcomed its move to resume the process.

"Most lately, I wrote to the Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil in August to review the state's decision on putting the student elections on hold. Ideally, they should have just declared to start student elections since its rules and regulations in accordance with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations have already been prepared by the administration in 2018, based on which the Student Council elections were declared in 2019, " stated Matele.

He observed that it is already too late for student elections to commence this academic year. "But the entire process should now be ready before the next academic year begins in June, so that in July (2027) elections can be held, " he continued.

Meanwhile, the first serious attempt to reverse the ban came in the 2010s. All-party discussions were held in 2013-14 on reviving student elections along the lines recommended by the Lyngdoh Committee.

In 2016, the then BJP-Shiv Sena administration led by Fadnavis passed the Maharashtra Public Universities Act to revoke the ban on student union polls and provide for elected Student Councils in universities, colleges and departments, effectively reversing the earlier ban. It additionally ensured.

Safeguards in light of the Lyngdoh framework that sought to limit funds and muscle power through eligibility requirements, attendance criteria, spending limits, campaign code, and grievance redressal mechanisms.

After which the universities prepared election schedules for 2019, the state administration framed detailed rules for the 2016 Act in 2018. For the first time in over two decades, Maharashtra appeared set to return to the campus polls. Then the administration stepped back again.

Weeks before the scheduled elections, the Fadnavis Cabinet, in August 2019, decided to put the student union polls on hold, citing law and order reservations and their proximity to the October Assembly elections that year. It approved Section 99B of the Maharashtra Public Universities (Second Amendment) Ordinance. It offered the administration power to defer the campus polls.

In practice, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out shortly after, and the state's political instability that came afterwards pushed the matter further down the government's agenda. The student polls were never rescheduled since. While universities continued with the nominated Student Councils, student organisations did not have enough political heft behind their demand for it.

For context, the NEET protests brought thousands of youth into the streets. In Mumbai, plenty of students were detained and some were issued police notices as protests continued. Youth and student organisations began membership drives and sought to build links with a generation that had shown it was willing to organise independently of established political structures.

In practice, the Indian Express documented in August concerning the students' renewed demand for the campus elections.

Then came the IIT Bombay agitation. After Wakode's death, students protested over the handling of the case and demanded changes in the institute's grievance mechanisms.

Neither protest was a student election campaign. But both indicated that the absence of formal student representation does not mean an absence of student politics.

Pradeep Sawant from Yuva Sena, youth wing of Shiv Sena (UBT), asked, "Is this (new) committee going to be another eyewash to calm the storm, or the government is really serious about bringing back student elections?" What is new roadmap?

In practice, the Suhas Pednekar committee's mandate reflects the government's intends and worries over the matter. The committee will examine safeguards against external political interference and commercialisation, management and audit of the Student Council funds, orientation and training of elected representatives, and the employ of digital systems for nominations, scrutiny and grievance redressal.

It will additionally consider representation for women, students from reserved categories and those involved in the NSS, NCC, sports and cultural activities.

Notably, the panel comprises former VCs and pro-VCs, principals, university authorities and a senior law officer. Mumbai University Registrar Dr Prasad Karande is its member-secretary.

Among other things, the committee will explore the digital process for the elections and keeping it free of political interference. Most student organisations have demanded that the polling should be a traditional ballet process to ensure transparency.

Santosh Gangurde, sate general secretary of the MNS's student wing, remarked, "The entire decision of examining how to bring back students' election is itself a political one. How can the process be kept free of political influence?"

While there are students protesting inside, there are various political outfits who are protesting outside the campus, he additionally stated: "Even in the ongoing protest over an IIT Bombay student's death by suicide. And youth wings of various political parties have additionally been raising voices for students' matters. The upcoming process should be inclusive of political participation although in a restricted manner."

For context, the supporters of student elections argue that they offer students a formal channel to highlight grievances and provide them a training ground for leadership. The critics have nevertheless held that student polls could bring party politics, capital and confrontation into campuses.

Both reservations seem to be reflected in the committee's terms of reference. For Maharashtra's political class, there is another matter at stake. A number of senior politicians have themselves emerged from student politics. The state's current Higher Education Minister, Chandrakant Patil, is among those who were active in student politics in their younger days.

In short, decode Politics: Why Maharashtra is reviving student elections after 33 years is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.