The Election Commission (EC) can breathe a sigh of relief, now that the SU elections are over and the dust has settled. But Kavan Sheth, a fourth year member of the EC is not very enthusiastic in describing the elections. With just one candidate contesting for the posts of the President and the General Secretary, a lot of the unpleasant skirmishes which are usually a part and parcel of the elections were absent, significantly reducing the burden on the EC’s shoulders. Although it was easier for them to manage the procedures this time, Kavan describes the elections as ‘boring’.

“Elections require us to be on our toes all the time, collecting information and adhering to the constant flow of complaints. But, this time, there were almost no major squabbles or bans. The campaigners themselves found the run up to the elections so bland that one camp was on the verge of doing something wrong to get a ban – just for the fun of it.” He feels that such fatuous overconfidence on the part of candidates and their campaigners dilutes the spirit of elections. Occasionally, members of the EC pose as first years and listen to campaigning to spot instances of rule breaking, but the campaigning was mild this time – no major malpractices were reported.

The EC work was more systematic this time around, Kavan says, as things were set in motion earlier on. The chief warden did not allow door to door campaigning in SR Bhawan, citing ragging as the reason. The superintendent chased off the campaigners with a stick on the first day, possibly mellowing down the more enthusiastic of the campaigners.  The Auditorium debate was also dreary this year. With general BITSians missing and only campaigners attending, the purpose of the debate was defeated.

Most of the complaints that the EC had to address pertained to the H-Rep elections and were minor. Fourth year bhawans were not campaigned in and voter turnout was poor. This was convenient for the EC as they did not want the campus muddled in petty politics. A few H-Reps lost to NOTA and re-elections need to be conducted. Interestingly, the candidates who lose once to NOTA can also contest again. Kavan says this is in the spirit of elections in BITS, where there is nothing stopping from a candidate from contesting. Convenient as the elections were this year, Kavan believes that this will not be a trendsetter, given how coveted the posts are.