‘The experience is altogether different from student politics’: NSUI Chandigarh unit President

Sandhu: I am supporting former Member of Parliament (MP) Vijay Inder Singla, who has been nominated by the Congress as the candidate from Sangrur Assembly constituency. As I have been associated with NSUI for a long time and have also been president of its Chandigarh unit, I have been given the task of helping Singla in the campaign.

Anand: I have been assigned the task of campaigning for Tejinder Singh Sidhu from Mohali constituency. As a student in the Panjab University, I have been active in politics and also contested for the post of president of the Panjab University Campus Student Council. However, I have now moved to mainstream politics from student politics. I will be mobilizing youngsters, especially students in support of Sidhu, who is the SAD nominee for the Mohali constituency.

How is your experience so far?

Sandhu: So far, the experience has been interesting as you get to know a lot more about people in general. The experience is altogether different from the student politics on the Panjab University campus and in colleges at Chandigarh. After interacting with people in the countryside, I have started realizing that they are facing a lot of problems in Punjab, for which the government has done nothing. Moreover, the stakes here are really high and now with a few days left, everyone is going out with all guns blazing.

Anand: For me it is a completely different experience. As I have only been part of student politics in Panjab University, the state elections have provided me a larger platform to get a real sense and understanding of politics. This opportunity comes once in five years and I want to make the most of it.

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What is the task assigned to you by the party?

Sandhu: My task is to contact students and other youth and tell them about the achievements made during the previous Capt Amarinder Singh Government in Punjab. Being a student of Panjab University is always an advantage as the students studying on the campus from Sangrur region are very helpful in making a campaign a success. I talk to youngsters about Congress policies and programmes and how the country progressed under the party’s rule in the past. I focus on the contribution made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make the country a world economic power.

Anand: My main job is to help the candidate in arranging meetings with the locals. I go to various localities, talk to my contacts and ask them to gather people of their respective area to meet with our candidate. This helps him to make connections at the ground level. Moreover, the local youth is very important, and being from PU, I have an advantage as a large number of students from Mohali and the surrounding villages study on the campus. I take their help in arranging meetings. Another advantage is of my being active in politics on the campus. Almost all students know me at a personal level.

How much time do you spend in the field for campaigning in a day?

Sandhu: Frankly speaking, there is no time limit. The campaigning goes on till the wee hours of the morning. On an average I spend almost 16 hours a day canvassing, moving from one place to another. I also use the social networking sites, which play a huge role in reaching and putting your point across to the people at a mass level, as everyone these days has a smart phone. Secondly, I consistently talk to people on the phone to communicate with other teams systematically.

Anand: Right now I’m working for 14-15 hours a day. But it is increasing every day. For campaigning in the urban pockets, I have to adopt a different strategy. During the day, people are busy in urban areas. They work at their shops. There is a large number of government employees in Mohali, and during the day they go to their offices. Most of the time during the day, we work in the rural areas and in the evening we come to Mohali to contact voters in the different urban pockets.

What are the main issues being raised during the campaign?

Sandhu: Drugs, unemployment, crisis in the farm sector, especially cases of suicide by farmers, have emerged as the main issues in this election. Obviously, the ruling SAD-BJP is responsible for not creating enough job opportunities for the youth. It also failed to tackle the crisis in the farm sector where a large number of cases of suicides continue to be reported almost on a daily basis. Farmers have been staging protests in front of the residences of various ministers. Our candidate assures people that if the Congress came to power, it will resolve all these issues and give them top priority.

Anand: I am of the view that the people of Punjab will vote for development, as they have seen the progress the state has made under the SAD-BJP leadership. Moreover, people are smart these days and won’t vote for turncoats and political parties with vested interests.