Welcome campaign for freshers at Rajdhani College in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: College union elections are scheduled for next month and aspirants in various colleges in the capital have already started campaigning. They are putting their best foot forward to win over the freshers.

The most popular way to interact with the newcomers is through fancy welcome cards. “On the first day of college, seniors welcomed us with cards and we were able to interact with them. They helped us find our classrooms and showed us around the campus. If this is a part of election campaigning, I think we can tell them about our problems so that they can really help us after being elected,” said Suhana Parwin, a first year student of BJB (Autonomous) College.

In some colleges, the aspirants have put up banners displaying their names and photographs. These include both big and small flex banners, which are more expensive than banners made out of cloth. Some have gone a step further by setting up colourful welcome gates.

Most of the candidates think that putting banners is the most appropriate way to let the newcomers know about the forthcoming elections. “This is the time when every newcomer should know about candidates who are going to contest the elections. There is nothing wrong if we put up banners to attract students. It is a regular practice. The political parties also do the same much ahead of the general elections,” said Debabrata Parmanik, a poll candidate at a college in Bhubaneswar.

However, he added: “One does not win elections simply by fixing banners though. He or she should have other capabilities too.”

Jeevanjyoti Ratha, another aspirant, said the process of putting up banners is justified, as it is very difficult to reach out to thousands of students who study in a college. “Everyone is aware that college union elections are an integral part of any institution. Since the first impression lasts forever, we are putting up banners so that freshers as well as other students can get an idea about the candidates,” Ratha said.

Some students, however, believe that the banners should not be put up so early as they give the impression that the candidates want mere publicity. “It is the responsibility of the seniors to guide the juniors. The banners and other techniques adopted by the aspirants suggest that they are only helping out juniors with the motive of garnering votes in the upcoming college elections,” said Subhalakshmi Biswal, a student of BJB (Autonomous) College.

The principal of BJB (Autonomous) College, Dushmant Sahoo, said the candidates are not allowed to put up their banners on campus before a notification is made about the elections. “The banners have not been put up inside the campus. So it is the responsibility of the police and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials to remove them,” he added.

Following guidelines of the Lyngdoh Commission, the candidates are not allowed to put up banners before the college authorities announce the election schedule. The guidelines also say that only handwritten banners would be allowed during college elections.