With Panjab University’s (PU) student elections scheduled for August 31, the unusually short campaign window has left smaller student outfits and independent candidates racing against time, with the Rakhi festival falling just three days before polling adding another hurdle.
“Rakhi is on August 28 and many students will leave for their homes.
Muskan Chauhan, a research scholar and Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) (HPSU) candidate, said the timing of the elections could affect canvassing as well as voter turnout. This means student leaders will get even less time to reach out to voters,” she said. “If the party candidates have already been decided, this should not pose much of a problem to student leaders or party members,” he said.
Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) and Sath have an existing network of student workers, smaller outfits largely depend on department-to-department visits, hostel canvassing and personal outreach, something candidates say will be difficult to manage across the university’s 74 departments in a limited period While established organisations such as National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).
