St Xavier’s College Kolkata’s Suffragium-Sansad '24: A Celebration of Intellect and Wit!

St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata’s Postgraduate and Research Department hosted Suffragium-Sansad '24, their annual flagship event, on February 16 and 17, respectively. The two-day cultural extravaganza painted a vivid picture of intellect and innovation with the portrayal of themes like ‘people, peace, polity’, ‘remarks, rejoinders, and reforms’, and ’the foundational constants of a flourishing polity’.

The opening ceremony held in the ornate Depelchin Auditorium, was graced by Professor Bertram Da Silva, Vice Principal of Arts and Science, who commended the Political Science department on its holistic performance on behalf of the Principal Rev Dr Dominic Savio, SJ. The ceremony also witnessed the launch of the 8th edition of Politique, a student-led annual journal that boasts of interdisciplinary academic perspectives integral to Political Science with cross-departmental original submissions pouring in, as claimed by its Chief Editors, Satantika Biswas, and Allen David Simon, respectively.

After an interlude of three years, Suffragium 2024, was revitalised with the support of the Head of Department and the convenorship of Deepalika Deb, Rajaishwarya Biswas, and Priyanshu Dutta. The first day of Suffragium began with Ballot Battalions by Enkon - a highly charged political event featuring animated speeches, catchphrases, and competitive debates between teams representing ‘political parties’. The first prize was swept up by the Lok National Party for their politically power-packed manifesto.

Reflections, an innovative addition, this year, encouraged students to use their cameras as the means through which important realities can be highlighted via photos. The day also saw a multitude of competitive events like the Knowledge Knockout, an inter-department political quiz competition. In Agenda’24 the participants mainly focused on presenting comprehensive policies on current issues. With Uncover, an investigative journalism event, day one ended on a high note.

Dramatique, the much-awaited theatrical event, marked the beginning of day two, where team Tale of Tableaus emerged as the winner by virtue of their enthralling performance. A mock UPSC stress interview named Final Bout will be etched forever in the minds of the students because of the illuminating presence of Harikrishna Pai, IPS. Alas! Suffragium 2024 drew to a close with the final event The Academy.

Following closely on the heels of Suffragium, Sansad 2024, shadowing the Model United Nations framework, embodied two significant committees for participants to engage in–the Lok Sabha and the Press. With this year’s agenda being ‘Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023’, the event witnessed delegates and press designees engaged in heated discussions, galvanizing debates, and putting their best intellectual foot forward.

The two-day festival of academic brilliance and societal vigilance concluded with a speech from Dr. Jhumpa Mukherjee, Head of the Department, expressing her gratitude. The closing ceremony not only honoured the winners, but also lauded the event's organisers, professors, and committee members for their diligence and efforts in making the event a grand success!