Jorawer Singh, Chandigarh, August 30, 2009: With the countdown already set on for student elections, printed posters of prospective candidates from different student parties adorn all thinkable places despite a blanket ban on their use. The use of printed material in student union election was banned in 2006 when the Supreme Court accepted the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee. This was enforced by PU’s election office, however, no strict has so far been taken against any violator. The committee’s recommendations limit the election budget to Rs 5,000 per candidate, which being too conservative for conventional methods of campaigning, is forcing students to innovate.
The alternate method devised include putting wallpapers & screen savers depicting party names, logos on desktop computers, laptops and even on mobile phone. Pasting of stickers on reverse of mobile phones, using SMS, holding press conferences with proper media invites, using notebooks with covers flaunting the affiliated party’s name etc. “We are going to paint our T-shirts ourselves and perhaps our faces too to mark our solidarity!” said Anu, a student of Mass Communication.