Chandigarh: Student elections are drawing closer and the excitement is visible – on signboards and roadsides. Faces of student leaders smile out of public signboards, hiding the original information. Party names in bold, bright colours are pasted on roadsides in defiance of campus defacement rules.Photographs from sectors 10 and 11 show signboards and roadside surfaces covered with stickers carrying the names and symbols of student organisations. The material has been pasted on infrastructure meant for public information, leaving official signboards partially covered by campaign material.While Panjab University has not yet formally announced the schedule for this year’s campus elections, polls are generally held in Sept as stated in PU election bye-laws.In 2025, PUCSC elections were held on Sept 3, while in 2024, voting was held on Sept 5.The defacement is not limited to PU. Colleges in Chandigarh are similarly littered, despite annual advisories and directions to student organisations.The notice issued by the office of the dean, student welfare, Panjab University specifically advises students and student organisations not to paste pamphlets and stickers on buildings, walls, trees, floors and poles on campus, particularly in hostels and departments.It states that defacement is punishable under the “Defacement Act” and warns that action would be taken against those whose pamphlets or stickers are found on university property.Such notices are not new. During the 2023 PUCSC election season, stickers of student organisations were reported across the campus despite the poll code and existing restrictions. In 2024, PU even constituted a committee to frame rules to address the recurring problem of campus defacement ahead of student elections.Even the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, which were accepted for implementation following a Supreme Court directive, place significant restrictions on campaign material during student elections.The guidelines specifically state that candidates cannot use printed posters, pamphlets or other printed material for canvassing. They permit hand-made posters only at places notified by the university or election authority. The guidelines also prohibit candidates and their supporters from defacing or causing destruction to university or college property.The Union govt has stated in Parliament that the Lyngdoh recommendations include restrictions on printed material, campus defacement and campaign expenditure, and that universities are required to follow the Supreme Court-directed framework.Still, enforcement remains a concern. In practice, complaints of defacement have often resulted in explanations being sought from students or organisations. Penalties, when imposed, have generally been paltry, far from being a deterrent.Stickers, posters and other material is freely used during election time.With the student election season approaching, fresh instances of defacement have once again put the spotlight on whether existing rules will be enforced beyond issuing advisories. For now, the city’s signboards suggest that the prohibition on campaign material is far more visible on paper than on the ground.
