PU turns a blind eye as rules go for a toss

Even as the campaigning drew to a close today, colleges in the city, which would otherwise have been buzzing with activity, largely wore a deserted look.

Even as the campaigning drew to a close today, colleges in the city, which would otherwise have been buzzing with activity, largely wore a deserted look. Barring a handful of colleges, the euphoria surrounding the elections was missing in most of them.

Till a few years ago, campaigning often took a feverish pitch as the day of polling approached but with the strict guidelines of the Lyngdoh Committee in place, students feel that the enthusiasm surrounding elections has fizzled out.

With bans on posters, banners and door-to-door campaigning, students seem to be missing the 8216;once festive look8217; colleges used to sport during elections. Says Karanbir Singh of SD College, 8220;The Lyngdoh Committee has taken the entire charm out of the elections. It has become a drab and colourless affair now. We can no longer have the kind of fun we used to have during elections.8221;

As the rules insist on curtailing the amount of money spent during elections, students feel this too has adversely affected the campaigning process.

8220;We can no longer organise parties for potential voters which was a big platform to interact with students. Also we are finding it difficult to woo hostellers as door-to-door campaigning is not allowed,8221; feels Harman Brar of PUSU.

Student leaders feel that with the use of printed manifestos being prohibited, it is difficult to make students aware of the party8217;s agenda. 8220;These rules have limited our activity and because of this, not many students are enthusiastic to be part of the election campaign. Moreover, our agenda too is not known to many students as there are no manifestos to distribute,8221; says Simranjeet Singh, presidential candidate from PUSU. He adds that he plans to improve the infrastructure of the college and the hostel on priority basis but not many students are aware of this.

The students8217; opinion, though, seems to be divided about the implementation of the Lyngdoh rules. Some students feel that the guidelines have helped streamline the election procedure. Kiranpreet Kaur of Government College, Sector 11, says, 8220;Instances of violence were very common during elections. Parties often resorted to unlawful means to win the elections. All this has been curbed with the coming of the Lyngdoh Committee.8221;