>:) 2

How to recognise a candidate --
A omnipresent Smile - how much so you are bugging the hell out of him
A everringing mobile
A bagpack having a diary full of 'points' & Phone nos.
An unnerving ability to appear stunned and excited at every idea the person in front comes up with, no matter how redundant and impractical it is !


The Election Committee has announced, this time in an email sent to everyone, & officially heralded in the Election Season.
Here you will find what an IITB election notification looks like.
This will be the only piece of election related material that will be as plain and uncomplicated :P

A major change from last time, has been that the notice brought all talk in the open.
In a run-up before the nominations are filed in over the weekend, candidates are being propped up, pulled down and aspirations are being played with.


Here are few of the characteristics of IITB elections:
1. The entire student population is eligible to vote.
2. The entire student populations isnt interested in voting.
3. The entire student population is made to vote.
4. Not every student knows whom to vote.
5. Every student knows that his vote will count.
6. Every student is intelligent [IIT .. u know]
7. Every student is intent on making his vote count, for as much as it can... for HIMself !
8. Every student is told by someone, whom to vote for!

All these things make them a very interesting affair.

Since the General Secretaries (GS) form the top hierarchy of the student body, they are earnestly contested elections. 4 GS mean 4 times the fun :D

On a more serious note, lets have a look at what ails the system:-

In spite of the wide spectrum of the campus populace, the posts are contested by only those belonging to a narrow slice of it. As a result, the elections and subsequent functioning of the gymkhana is largely immaterial to the rest.

Whats this slice like ?
Out of the 6000 odd campus residents, only 3rd / 4th yr. UG students are known to contest. They constitute about 1000 odd. Even among these, less than 20% have ambitions that have anything to do with this annual parade.
These ambitions are varied in nature -
They may spread from actually contesting and winning an election to propping up a familiar face as one to getting ulterior motives fulfilled.
Since the college spectrum has enough posts to satiate everyone [Read this - extremely hilarious and almost true article] only the posts at the top are keenly contested, while the rest are shared with much co-operation.

As a result, its a matter of these 150-200 people [which works out to abt. 12 per hostel or quantified still better - 2 per wing] that a candidate has to 'work' out things with.

That is the phase the elections are in right now!
Its called - Groundwork, Manifesto, suggestions and so on - but boils down to laying the groundwork of present & future networking.

Its to early for deal-making [Have just heard that it happens, donno whether it is true :P] but its early nonetheless ;)
Till then..