Rajasthan University election: Campaigning ends, students gear up for polling on Aug 31

Campaigning for students union election in Rajasthan University ended on Wednesday. Polling will be held on August 31.

The canvassing this year was feeble in comparison to the past few years. Students, however, are gearing up to cast their votes.

On the last day of campaigning, candidates rallied around the university campus moving from one college to the other. From buying film tickets for voters to paying canteen bill, student groups left no stone unturned to woo the voters.

Dean, students welfare Sabina Kalia emphasised on the need for teachers to motivate the students to vote. “Students union election is a responsibility and accountability toward the university for the students. Teachers should play their part in motivating students to vote,” said Kalia.

The university administration has uploaded a presentation on the university website providing guidelines for casting the vote.

A student of science department, Rashmi Muhal, said in case none of the candidates sound promising, NOTA is always an option.

“Going out to vote is important. Once a candidate wins the election, he/she does not bother about the real issues. In such a scenario, NOTA can be considered as an option,” said Rashmi.

Students canvassing at Rajasthan University campus on Wednesday, August 30, 2018. (HT Photo )

Mahendra Kumar Sharma, a student from political science department, said students prefer to vote for independent candidates in the absence of credible candidates from political groups.

“Students, especially the ones who reside in the hostels, are eager to vote. However, I would say that more than half of the students would want to vote for independent candidates. They lose confidence in the party candidates due to sub groups within the parties, caste based polarisation and allegations of the tickets being sold,” said Sharma.

Chief election officer of the university VV Singh said the students were provided with NOTA option as an alternative and the university administration would want more and more students to cast their vote.

“All safety measures are in place to facilitate the students on the polling day. We would want more and more students to vote. Hence, we have provided them with an alternative of NOTA in case they would not want to vote for any of the candidates. Our primary concern is that the students should not consider polling day as a holiday,” said Singh.

First Published: Aug 30, 2018 13:41 IST