‘Lyngdoh panel guidelines have changed the way of elections’

“But now the voters are surprised when the party declares somebody else as the presidential candidate on the last day,because the main leader,who has done all the work for the party,fails to fulfil the eligibility criteria laid down by the Commission,” he added.

Another interesting trend noted was the emergence of student leaders from the science departments.

“Earlier,almost all the candidates were from the Department of Law. But after the implementation of Lyngdoh guidelines,candidates were also required to fulfil the criteria of having 75 per cent class attendance,thus,paving way for science students who appear to have better attendance records,” says another former students leader.

The number of girls contesting the elections and the perception around them has remained constant ever since the elections began,says Deepika Thakur,who managed to break the stereotype by being the first girl to be elected as the general secretary. “Even today,girls are considered only for the less authoritative posts of vice-presixdent and boys stand for other prominent posts,” says Thakur.

Somveer Singh,another former leader who has been part of the election process for the last seven years,points out that the voter turnout has also reduced over the years.

Dalbir Singh ‘Goldy’,a former students leader,said,“Elections were the most celebrated time on the university campus. There were open houses where there was a direct interaction with the voters and mass-support rallies where each party was allotted one specific day to take out a rally. After the Lyngdoh Commission guidelines were implemented,all these activities were stopped,” he added.

The Lyngdoh Commission was a six-member committee led by former election commissioner J M Lyngdoh,which laid down the Code of Conduct for the student organisations to follow during union elections. In 2006,the Supreme Court ordered all the academic communities to implement these recommendations in the campus.