Girls battle it out on and off the field

Sukhdeep Kaur Brar,a student of SGGS Khalsa College,Sector 26,shares: “It is looked down upon by teachers and they hold a grudge against students who contest elections for the rest of the year. One of my friends had to withdraw last year because of this.”

The shortlived charm of being the face of a party and being the centre of attention too fails to lure girls.

“After two minutes of fame,there will no supporters by one’s side. Getting into normal gear after receiving so much attention has its drawbacks,” feels Deepti Sharma,a student of SD College.

Parents too play a crucial role in deciding whether girls can contest elections. “The notion that politics is a dirty game keeps girls away. Parents too do not encourage us to come forward,” states Avantika,of DAV College,Sector 10.

Parties too seem to be weighing their options carefully before fielding girls for key posts. “They usually cannot handle the pressure of polling which requires interacting with various kinds of people,” says Amit Sharma,a SOPU supporter.

Independent raises questions over age criteria
Varun Malik,who is standing as an independent candidate in the forthcoming student elections at Panjab University,has raised doubts over the age criteria set for contestants.Malik stated that as per the university guidelines governing student elections,the age limit for postgraduate students has been fixed at 24-25 years and authorities seem to have lost sight of the fact that in such a case,LLM students will not be able to contest the elections. He further explains that a person completes graduation at the age of 21-23 years and then completes LLB (3-year course) at the age of 24-26 years. An LLM degree will take two more years to complete and the student then does not qualify for the elections.