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It's the time for election

It's fun and excitement as election fever catches up in universities, reports MANGALA RAMAMOORTHY

Colleges have reopened, freshers have come in and the academic year has started in full swing. But for collegians it's also that time of the year when old office bearers make way for the new ones. And that obviously means election time. Election at college or university level is not anything like the `real' politics nor is it a scene out of Yuva, but for students it has its own significance.

For students at Hyderabad Central University, elections are a big occasion as the entire college gets into that groove. As a rule, most colleges don't allow the first years to stand for elections, but they are quite indispensable as voters. "We hold regular seminars and other programmes for everyone as this will help new comers an opportunity to know about our activities. There's obviously a lot of personal interaction that's involved. But when the real campaigning time comes, we distribute pamphlets with all our past achievements written on it. We also visit each hostel and class to propagate," says Rahil Mohammed, President, University Discussion Forum, which is currently in power.

And they don't use any other indirect methods to get votes, at least that what they say. "We don't resort to any other means to woo voters. Though we work on party lines, we really don't have lot of funds at our disposal," adds Rahil. What is that makes students lend their supports for a particular party? "I voted for UDF because of their past credentials and the fact that I am Left oriented. Also the fact that the person is from your own class does help as well," says Deblina Dutta, a second year master's student. The students here also have to elect representatives to its various school, but this is done very informally by simply raising hands.

Unfortunately, the state government has banned elections to the students' union in colleges under Osmania University, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and Andhra University since 1989. But then there are elections to the various college boards, committees and clubs that keeping these students busy. At Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (Ciefl), late August is the time to elect people into their various councils like Participants' Association Council. "We elect people to various posts like president and secretaries for mess, sports and cultural. People can give their nominations, but that needs to be seconded by two people or staff," explains an MPhil student.

For technical colleges like Muffakham Jah, it is all about elections to various technical clubs like SAE and The Orators' Club. Tauseef H Syed, a council member at TOC explains, "We have elections to the executive board, members of which form the Council. The council changes every semester. But only the members are allowed to vote. Since the Council consists of five members, each person has to vote for five candidates." At SAE, there's only the cabinet that needs to be voted for.

But many students still seem to be missing the elections to the students' union and are hoping that the government will soon lift the ban. "I think this is one of the best ways to encourage youngsters to get into politics. It will also create awareness about democracy and our rights," feels Dr. Suresh, who just finished his PhD from ANGRAU.

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