Surveyor, volunteer or analyst: SPPU students find work in election season

Pune: The spate of local body elections may have kept the politicians busy but has also given an opportunity to students from Savitribai Phule Pune University. The have been contacted by various agencies, who in turn help political parties with almost everything — from making decisions regarding the candidates to distributing voter slips or informing voters which booth they belong to.Abhishek Shelkar, a postgraduate student of political science, who worked as a surveyor for an agency working for the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi during the zilla parishad elections, said, "Our quota was to fill in the details of about 100 people in a particular area, and we would be paid Rs 700 or Rs 800. The questionnaire was in a Google form format, which was designed to understand which way the wind was blowing, who was the most favoured candidate, and what the pressing issues were. We would give all this to the agency, and then they would analyse it."
Sometimes, candidates, knowing the power of these surveys, also try to manipulate the students, asking them to write good things about them so that they can get a ticket, he said. "As a political science student, it is also one of the best ways to understand how politics works at close quarters," Shelkar said.Samadhan Dupargude, a Marathi PhD scholar, said he was involved with NCP during the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) election and the work was easy. "There is a questionnaire they had prepared, asking about the work of the candidate, what the biggest issues they think are plaguing the area, and what their satisfaction level with the current candidate is, etc. There are times when people say, ‘let the candidate or party workers come and talk to us,' which means they are expecting something. Then there are times when they genuinely talk about issues and why they think those issues matter. The other work is finding names on the voters' list and telling the agency people the names that are not there, cannot be found, or have some problems," Dupargude said.It is not just for money or experience, but those harbouring political ambitions are also into it. Rajan Lagad, a first-year political science student, said, "I want to contest ZP elections. But if you are not from a political background, it is hard to understand politics, what the candidates do, what the party sponsoring the candidate is looking for, etc. We need to understand how to build a support base, what issues click with people, and what don't."Lagad said when political parties engage students for their political work, it is a great way for people like him to closely see what works and what doesn't, what is needed to make people vote for someone and support them, etc. "I worked with BJP in the PMC election, and now I am working with Shiv Sena in the ZP polls, which are happening now. I think more than the money, experience matters," he said.The easy work and decent money remain a big draw for students into political work. "Most of the students in SPPU come from poor backgrounds. For them, even if they get Rs 800 a day and are assured work for the next five days, they will directly get Rs 4,000. Their mess fees can be taken care of with that money. Secondly, it is clerical work and not hard labour. All of them can do it without any stress," said Rahul Sasane, student activist.Sasane further said as for political parties, they want people who will do the work diligently and hopefully without bias. "Postgraduate students need not be trained in survey methods, etc. They are already good at it, and most have smartphones and can use them to fill Google forms or search voters' list. Hence, it is a win-win situation for students and political parties," he added.