Parties turn to students for campaigning

Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7

To woo young voters in the city for the MC poll, candidates of prominent parties have assigned the task of campaigning to leaders of their student wings at Panjab University and city colleges. The MC elections are scheduled to be held on December 18.

Sources in the NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, and the ABVP, the student wing of the BJP, said rather than just depending on door-to-door campaigning, the parties were focusing on contacting students, who were active on social media groups, for campaigning.  

PUSU, which had won the student council elections in the university, is also campaigning for the MC elections.

However, the SAD, which also has a student wing in the university (SOI), is not using the services of the young cadre for the MC elections. Student leaders of the party said candidates had not approached them to participate in the campaigning for the MC elections.

Senior NSUI leader at the PU Manoj Lubana said from tomorrow, the university wing would start campaigning for the Congress candidates in the fray for the MC poll. 

He said they had prepared a list of local students studying at Panjab University and city colleges, and would contact them to vote for the Congress candidate in their respective wards. 

He said for campaigning, they were using social media groups to contact the campus students. Recorded messages of NSUI leaders had been prepared for young city voters. He said their campaign would commence from Ward No. 3, where the NSUI would campaign in favour of Ritu Chhabra, wife of Pradeep Chhabra, city Congress chief.

ABVP leader Harmanjot Singh said by this weekend, they would start a special campaign to make voters, especially first timers, aware of their voting rights. 

PUSU leader Satwinder Singh (Naval) said his group was not supporting any political party but workers were campaigning for individuals, on their own, in their respective wards.