As the nominations are being filed in the Panjab University for the student council election on Friday, few students are busy vacating the boot of a car filled with pamphlets and posters. At first look it will confuse an onlooker, who might take it as a hand written one but a closer look shows how the norms are being twisted.
A man who is unloading the stuff smiles showing his tobacco stained incisors, he is no student but he is happy that authorities have been fooled with the pamphlets which are printed in way which gives the impression as if they are hand written. This is all happening in the backdrop after former Chief Election Commissioner J M lyngdoh himself addressed the university students few days back and lectured them about fair election practices and the need of indirect election in campuses with a strength of more than 16,000 students. But with days passing out after the initial committee report was submitted the situation is back to square one.
Even when JM lyngdoh was addressing the students, muscular cars with big flashy posters were doing the round of the university to gain support for their parties. Candidates contesting the elections believe that voters do care about appearance and money is the only thing that can buy that adept political look which is in vogue. Akrirti, a student of the university said, “I am studying here for the past few years and it is true that new comers to the university are attracted towards flamboyant display of money and power. But the sad part is that once the elections are over the representatives vanish and all their election promises are proved to be whims and fancy.”
Elections not only bring big flashy cars to the campus but other provisions are also in store, implemented on ground by the candidates to woe the voters. The lyngdoh committee puts a cap on election expenditure to Rs 5000 to Rs 10, 000 subject to revision by the university authority after all the details are submitted by the contesting candidate after the elections, which as a matter of fact never happens.
Given its geographical location of the city beautiful one of the best ways of wooing the voters is a trip to the hills. According to a travel agent even if a sports utility vehicle is booked for the purpose the cost of return trip stands to Rs 8,000 to 9, 000 minimum. But there are many parties who have been arranging bus trips for all the students of a department and the expenditures don’t matter.
An insider from the Student Organization of Panjab University said, “Earlier we were confined to local trips but this year National Student Union of India is flexing its muscle big time in the campus and hence we don’t want to leave any stone unturned to provide best possible facilities to our voters as winning matters.” Hindustan Student Association another student body of Panjab University is of the view that big parties and politically backed parties are in a way trying to buy votes and they are being covertly supported by the administration. But no one wants to come in open against them and the university has failed to curb the practices as political big wigs are behind them.
According to the lyngdom committee recommendation there should be a grievance Redressal cell in the university headed by two professors and two students. Prof Navdeep Goyal, Dean Student Welfare said that such a cell exists in the Panjab University but a chat with the student proves that like many other cells this is also on pen and paper as no information about the same is available with the students.
Kangabam Sangeeta Devi a student from the north-east said, “There are incidents about election practices that I want to bring before the authority but I am aware of no such grievance Redressal cell. Anyways no one cares about student from the north-east because we have hardly any visible voting share in the university elections.”
Many students hanging out at the student’s center at the university also denied information about the same. Committees are set up just on pen and paper but they never serve their purpose. Rajesh another student of the university said that they get invitation of parties in various pubs and bars across the city where free booze with snacks are being served to the students but surprisingly it is a don’t ask and don’t tell affair but is known to all.
Prof Rajesh Gill, Department of Sociology said, “Student elections groom the future politicians of India but the current situation is grim. The sectarian and communal politics is being copied in university election which is a great threat for the country. The influx of money in student politics is also a grave threat to the functioning of democracy.”
“If we want our young ones to build a better India, it is the need of the hou r to deal with money laundering and other unfair practices in university election with a heavy hand. We cannot let the students reflect the lacunae of national politics in the university arena but for that first we need to curb malpractices and distance students’ politics from mainstream politics so that the voice of the students is heard rather than being manipulated,” added Gill.
However popular student parties which are being backed by mainstream political parties believe that participation of such parties is needed so as to provide a stage for the contesting candidate in the real political arena. NSUI the student party backed by the congress is of the view that if student politics is confined to the university than a candidate contesting election will have no future. But a candidate backed by mainstream political has a better career in the future.
However some experts are of the view that after loosing its foothold from Punjab, congress is trying to gain some momentum in the state by wooing the youth and hence it has suddenly become active in the Panjab University elections. Surprisingly one of NSUI’s main election mottos is to demand a central status for Panjab University, which they believe will improve infrastructure of the University in the days to come. Whatever is the case the reality speaks loud that lyngdoh commission which was set up to regulate the unfair practices during student council election has failed to serve its purpose as politics of money, power and booze is ruling the election campaigns and Panjab University is a glaring example.