Hopefuls believe that social networking sites are the most effective way to reach out to students. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 27: Excitement is at its peak as students of colleges across the state are engaged in aggressive campaigning for the upcoming students’ union elections. With D-Day less than 48 hours away, a large number of candidates have started using social networking sites, especially Facebook, as campaigning tools.

Presidential candidate of Utkal University, Tanmaya Swain believes Facebook is the most effective way to reach out to the maximum number of students.

“Facebook is the most popular way of interaction today. Almost 70 per cent students of the university are on my friends’ list. So, it becomes easier to convey election-related information to them. I have appealed to everyone to actively participate in the polls on September 29,” said Tanmaya, adding the social networking site also provides a platform for the students to raise issues and demands.

Similarly, Ravenshaw University’s presidential aspirant, Srikant Parida’s Facebook wall is flooded with “good luck” and “support” messages. He has been “tagged” in a picture where he is seen leading a campaign rally and it has been followed by a dozen “likes” and an equal number of comments.

Another friend on his list, who is miles away and is studying in Pondicherry University, has posted an appeal in Srikant’s favour.

Other candidates who are not much tech-savvy are doing their best through door-to-door and SMS campaigns.

“I am an independent candidate and do not have much money to splurge, but I made sure that campaigning continues without any hitch. I had collected phone numbers and addresses of students from the college office. My friends and I visited around 20 students today and are sending them text messages at regular intervals,” said Karishma Swain, a presidential candidate of Kamala Nehru Women’s College here. Chandan Pal, who is running for the post of president of College of Basic Sciences and Humanities in the capital, also went on an intensive door-to-door campaign.

“I am not very active on Facebook, so I am sending round-the-clock text messages to my classmates, juniors and seniors. The 100 text messages-day restriction imposed by the Telecom Regulatory authority of India would affect campaigning to some extent,” he said. The “What I stand for” meeting is scheduled to be held tomorrow and would be followed by polls on Thursday morning.