Defacement, littering show the dirty picture of PU elections
While stickers from the day before turned into pulp due to overnight rain, fresh campaigning by Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), National Students Union of India (NSUI) and others added to the garbage heap. PU security and police officials were present at the spot but remained mute spectators.
Chandigarh: As Saturday remained a working day for Panjab University (PU) with a view to provide student organisations an extra day for campaigning ahead of the September 3 elections, Lyngdoh Committee guidelines went for a toss as party workers blatantly defaced and littered the campus with party stickers.
The South Campus was the worst affected as all parties flocked to the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), which has around 2,300 voters this year, the highest of all departments. While stickers from the day before turned into pulp due to overnight rain, fresh campaigning by Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), National Students Union of India (NSUI) and others added to the garbage heap. PU security and police officials were present at the spot but remained mute spectators.
Rallies were carried out by Mankirat Singh Mann for ASAP, Gaurav Veer Sohal for Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Sumit Sharma, who is contesting from Student Front under the rebel alliance. Campaigning on North Campus largely focussed on the sciences departments where piles of stickers from the previous days could be seen outside some of the departments.
ASAP state spokesperson Vatanveer Singh Gill said, “We had organised all our previous events without any stickers or littering. It is important to create a wave before the election. Party workers see how other parties get away scot-free with such infractions and do it on their personal level. It wasn’t a decision from the party’s side. We will ask them not to break rules this way again.”
Defacement was seen near the Student Centre, the Sector 14 market and the popular canteens on the North Campus. The problem was worse at Southern Campus, where the photostat shop beside UIET was seen defaced with multiple posters. The UIET canteen too has posters of candidates pasted on the walls.
No action on infractions so far
PU officials confirmed that so far, no action has been taken against any party for flouting the stickers and the defacement rules. Dean students welfare (DSW) Amit Chauhan said that any such cases will be put before the poll code committee and violations will be fined. The fine for this is a meagre ₹200 or ₹300, thus not much of a deterrent.
While PU had earlier threatened that it may cancel the candidature of those who break the rules, the DSW clarified that this action can be done when the candidate themselves break these rules. It is usually seen that those standing with the candidates may throw the stickers while candidates themselves don’t. In Delhi University Students Union elections, the stickers usually have misspelled spellings of the candidates to avoid inquiries, however, in PU, the names of the candidates, panel codes and even pictures are used. In recent years, stickers with QR codes of the candidates’ manifesto have also been thrown.
In case of defacement, action can be taken by police by registering a case under Section 3 of Delhi Prevention of Defacement Act 2007, which is followed in the UT. Offenders are liable to be punished with imprisonment which can extend up to one year and a fine up to ₹50,000.
