The hotly contested election to the Syndicate of the University of Madras on Saturday saw four members making it with the support of the Professors Forum of Madras University and two members backed by the Madras University Teachers Association.
G. Ravindran and S. Sriman Narayanan from MUTA; V. Mahadevan; K. Jothi Sivagnanam; and R. Jaganathan, all heads of departments in the university, and M. Venkataramanan, Principal of D.G. Vaishnav College, were elected. Mr. Ravindran was the only candidate to be re-elected.
In the run-up to the election, the contestants had met the Registrar and demanded free and fair elections. The Registrar in a meeting with the 12 candidates assured them of fair practices. This led to the university setting up CCTVs and one polling booth instead of three.
The election saw several firsts, say university professors. A candidate’s application was rejected. The campaign was intense with banners and placards coming up in support of a few candidates, which some contestants termed as “flagrant violation” of election norms. The polling saw an unusually high turnout. Usually, the Dean of College Development Council and the Controller of Examination and the Vice-Chancellor abstain from voting to ensure fair elections.
Vice-Chancellor R. Thandavan said CCTVs were installed to prevent malpractices and that the names of candidates were given instead of serial numbers to avoid confusion. On the rejection of the candidature of one professor, he said the candidate had filed two application forms. While in the first he had failed to sign the application, the second time he had not provided the name of the proposer.
“All officials in the Higher Education Department have the right to vote. I have the right to vote and so exercised my franchise,” Dr. Thandavan said.
