With less than 10 days left for the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) elections, student parties are turning to tech to bridge the gap created by the short campaigning period.
QR codes have emerged as the main campaigning tool, with parties circulating it among students to seek their views and include their concerns in election manifestos.
While the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) had introduced the practice last year, when it received few responses, more parties are adopting it this year.
ASAP state spokesperson Vatanveer Singh Gill said this year, the party plans to reach out to department and class representatives to get the QR code sent to class groups as well.
Some parties say they have already started getting responses. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Students Organisation’s (ISO) vice-presidential candidate, Vipul Bhadu, said many students had reached out to them through the QR code to flag instances of sexual harassment on campus.
Their social media playbook
{{/usCountry}}Their social media playbook
{{/usCountry}}Social media has become an important tool for candidates fighting the PUCSC presidential election. Many had started building their profiles months before the elections were formally announced.
A senior member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who is running their poll campaign and wishes to remain anonymous, said three teams are currently working on the social media profile of the party’s presidential candidate. These include Bidhan’s own social media team, ABVP Chandigarh’s team and a team sent by the organisation’s central leadership from Delhi.
Political parties are also maintaining databases containing information on students, including their departments and affiliations, which campaign teams use to tailor their social media strategies. Some parties have also set up “war rooms” similar to those used by mainstream parties, with campaigners who have experience in political elections involved in the process.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are also being used by parties to prepare press releases, graphics and other social media content. They also use AI to plan their campaigns.
The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and ASAP also have dedicated social media teams to manage their candidates’ pages. NSUI’s multiple factions have resulted in several social media pages associated with different groups.
Not all pages used by the parties are directly affiliated to them.
Anonymous pages are sometimes used to circulate memes and posts targeting rival groups, including vulgar content. A meme circulated through one such anonymous page allegedly led to a brawl near the Geology Department on Sunday. The Chief of University Security (CUS) subsequently wrote to the police seeking legal action. Police, however, made the accused execute bonds under provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.