Jaipur, August 26: Polling for students' unions in universities and affiliated colleges across the state began on Friday morning under tight security arrangements. The elections are being conducted after a gap of two years due to the Covid-19 situation.

About 20,700 students will exercise their franchise at Rajasthan University, which is the state's premier institute. About 6 lakh students across the state will elect their leaders to raise their voice in campuses, a university spokesperson said. Polling will be held till 1 pm and the votes will be counted on Saturday.

For the post of president in the Rajasthan University Students' Union, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has fielded Ritu Barala, while Narendra Yadav is the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate.

Niharika Jorwal, Nirmal Chaudhary, Pratapbhanu Meena and Hiteshwar Bairwa are also in the fray. Niharika is the daughter of Murari Lal Meena, a minister in the state government. She is contesting as an Independent after the NSUI denied her a ticket.

The nominations of two ABVP candidates were rejected during scrutiny on Tuesday. Following protests, their nominations were considered valid later at night.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)