Campaigning Rules

Definitions [SG]:
● Voter: Anyone who is a registered student according to the record maintained by
the Registrar Office of IIT Gandhinagar has the right to cast vote and shall be
considered a ‘Voter’.
● Candidate: Any voter who consents and/or endeavors to be elected as expressed by
filing a nomination and is deemed eligible by the Student Election Commission
(SEC) to contest the election.
● Campaigners (Only for Council Secretary Positions): Any voter who consents to
canvass support and solicit votes for a candidate in the election through the
procedures prescribed by the SEC shall be considered a campaigner of the eligible
candidate. They can carry forward the ideas/agenda of their candidate, even when
their candidate is not part of the discussion.
● Anti-campaigning: An act of anti-campaigning shall consist of but is not limited to:
○ Any act of criticizing a candidate based on their private life; which is not
connected with their public activities as a holder of a position of
responsibility or otherwise.
○ Any act of criticizing a candidate based on their race, age, gender, caste,
religion, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, place of birth, or
language.
○ The SEC reserves the final right to declare an act as anti-campaigning.

General Campaigning Rules:

1. Use of money in any form for campaigning purposes is strictly prohibited. It not
only includes direct use but also includes expenses made for campaigning
purposes.
2. Negative campaigning, use of muscle power, spreading false rumors, horse-trading
of votes or any unethical behaviour violating the rules of the institute would be
considered a violation of the fundamentals of campaigning.

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3. No candidate or campaigner can ask for votes based on caste, creed, sex, religion,
region or any other issue which has the tendency to break the unity of the
institute.
4. Any sort of anti-campaigning is strictly prohibited.
5. Candidates/campaigners cannot involve or seek assistance from any non-voter in
the campaigning.
6. Use of any sort of positional influences or external/political influences such as a
celebrity(ies) or their image, ideology/propaganda(s), historical figures, seniority,
past positions etc. to gain votes is strictly prohibited.
7. In case a candidate/campaigner(s) holds PORs or are a part of an organizing
team/event, he/she will have to step down from his/her post until the elections
conclude.
8. Candidates/campaigners are barred from the inclusion of signatures or their
names in the community emails that are sent from such IITGN ids which are
managed by students.
9. Any sort of collusion is banned.
10. Candidates/campaigners are supposed to respect the privacy of students of IITGN
while campaigning.
11. No form of personal endorsement during campaigning is allowed.
12. During door-to-door campaigning, candidates and campaigners need to take
permission from every member present in the room before entering. It is only
allowed between 11 AM and 11 PM during the campaigning period.
13. Use of the classroom or any other public platform (except those authorized by the
Election Commission) for campaigning is strictly prohibited.
14. No processions are allowed for campaigning of any candidate.
15. No printed/photocopied or handwritten material of any sort should be used for
campaigning other than that provided by the Election Commission.
Candidates/campaigner(s) are allowed to carry a physical copy of the manifesto
provided by the EC for campaigning purposes.
16. Only resources provided by the SEC can be used for campaigning purposes.
Candidates and campaigners are strictly prohibited to use their own resources.

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17. Candidates/campaigners can not use posters, banners or any other tangible means
of campaigning, except for the e-copies of the manifestos, verified and authorized
by the SEC. (Any exception to this rule shall be made at the discretion of the SEC.)
18. The campaigning/manifestos must not contain any offensive/indecent comments
or remarks.
19. Candidate/campaigners shall abstain from serving, distributing, or accepting
treats/cash at outlets in any other forms, or any associated product(s) for
canvassing support in favor or against a candidate.
20. No candidate or their campaigner shall express their support towards or endorse
any other candidate. The candidate(s), or their campaigner(s), must not be found in
any sort of discussion with any other candidate(s) (or their campaigners) during the
duration of the electoral process. Any kind of informal discussion between
candidates related to elections is strictly prohibited.
21. Candidates/campaigners must avoid activities such as bribing voters, intimidation
of voters, hooliganism, impersonation of voters, and the transport and conveyance
of voters to and from polling venues. This will directly be identified as a Level 3
violation under the MCC.
22. Candidates/Campaigners shall invariably seek the assistance of the SEC for dealing
with a person(s) disturbing campaigning or otherwise attempting to create
disorder. Candidates/campaigners must not take action against such person(s), by
themselves.
23. Candidates/campaigners are allowed to conduct meetings to put forth their
views/manifesto/agenda before the student community. [Refer to next section on
Public Meetings]
24. Candidates are allowed to contest for only one post. Any candidate applying for
more than one post shall not be allowed to contest.
25. Students holding the elected post can’t contest for the elections following ‘single
post, single policy’.
26. Any complaints related to the elections shall not be entertained after 12 hours, once
the voting concludes.

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 27. Candidates/campaigners can only address issues, within the institute’s purview
(vision, mission, core values, principles, etc), relevant to the post the candidate is
contesting for.
28. Candidates/Campaigners cannot become a part of an organizing team for any
event after the declaration of elections till the voting period ends, without taking
permission from the Election Commission.
29. In case, if a candidate/campaigner is already a part of the organizing team of an
event or holds any other position of responsibility then he/she should hand over
their task to those who are not candidates in the ongoing elections and opt out of
the organizing team for the entire election period. They should not use any sort of
influence.
30. No student-run or led events/activities can be organized by the student
community during the election period.
31. Candidates/campaigners are allowed to interact with voters one-on-one
(offline/online) for canvassing votes with the consent of the student.
32. Candidates/campaigners may report any voter creating tension or obstruction in
their campaigning.

Rules for Public Meetings:

The following relaxations/restrictions to Point 14 under Norms and Regulations of Section
C.2 [Model Code of Conduct] of the Election Code have been sanctioned by the Election
Commission:

1. Candidates/campaigners may conduct public meetings (offline/online) for

campaigning purposes during the campaigning period.
2. A public meeting is defined as a gathering of more than 15 people at a time.
3. Candidates/campaigners are required to take permission to conduct such public
meetings before 6 hours from the SEC through email. The email should include the
time, date, venue and the approximate number of participants in the meeting.

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 4. Candidates/Campaigners shall be responsible to maintain the decorum of the
meeting and face possible consequences (if any).
5. Announcements about meetings can be made through the campaigning means
detailed by the SEC.
6. Candidates/Campaigners are barred from using institute resources or
infrastructures such as classrooms, auditoriums, notice boards, projectors, and
sound systems to conduct public meetings.

Rules for Online Campaigning:

The following relaxations/restrictions to Point 10, Point 12, and Point 13 under Norms and
Regulations of Section C.2 [Model Code of Conduct] of the Election Code have been
sanctioned by the Election Commission:
[Note: This is an illustration for Facebook and Instagram and for informative purposes only.
The same rules also apply/comply on other social media platforms/handles (as deemed fit by
the Election Commission) that can be potentially used for online campaigning and violate the
norms.]

1. Candidates/Campaigners are allowed to use social media platforms Whatsapp,

Facebook & Instagram ONLY (on handles provided in the nomination form) for
campaigning purposes in a non-obstructive way i.e. without spamming. Every
candidate/campaigner must follow the below guidelines while posting/sharing any
digital content (including text posts etc.) online:
○ Candidates/Campaigners are not allowed to post any campaigning/personal
content (including captions, hashtags) without the written approval of the
EC. Only the captions and hashtags approved by the EC are to be used.
○ Candidates/Campaigners are required to tag the official handle of Student
Election Commission IIT Gandhinagar on the post/ story (the
candidates/campaigners are not allowed to tag any other
person/page/group on their post).
○ Comments shall be turned off on all posts/stories.

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2. One-to-one interaction (involving text messages only) using the messaging services
provided by the social media platforms WhatsApp, Facebook, & Instagram ONLY
does not need to be approved by the Election Commission, while campaigning is
being done by the candidate/campaigners.
○ Candidates/Campaigners must follow the general conduct guidelines given
above while doing the same. Violations will be dealt with accordingly.
3. Allow the Election Commission (EC) to see all posts/stories on Facebook and
Instagram.
4. Candidates/campaigners must change the following settings on Facebook or other
social media. An example
○ Turn ON “Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your
profile.” Candidates are NOT allowed to approve any tag requests on their
profile once they make these changes.

○ Disabling posts from others on Facebook by changing the setting of “Who

can post on your timeline” to “Only me.”

○ Disabling the option on Facebook “Allow others to share your public stories
to their own story?”.

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5. Candidates/campaigners must change the following settings on Instagram:
○ Change the setting of “Allow Tags From” to “No One.”
○ Change the setting of “Allow @mentions From” to “No One”.

○ Turn OFF all following the setting of Story -

■ “Allow Message Replies”
■ “Allow Resharing to Story”
■ “Allow Sharing”
■ “Share Your Story to Facebook”

6. Candidates/campaigners are ONLY allowed to use either WhatsApp voice calls or

Phone calls to discuss their agenda/ manifesto. The calls are to be made only
between 11 AM and 11 PM during the campaigning period.

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 7. All online activities, including emails, posts, comments, tweets, reels, memes, etc.,
are banned except as those mentioned above.
8. The posts/contents across all platforms must be removed by all candidates once
the campaigning period is over. Violations will be dealt with strictly.

Rules for Campaigner(s):

1. Candidates contesting for the post of council secretaries ONLY are required to
submit a digitally-signed list of campaigners (not more than 7) to the SEC for
approval.
2. Any candidate/campaigner/voter cannot become a campaigner for more than one
candidate or another candidate.
3. Campaigners will be allowed to assist their respective candidates in their
campaigning including putting forward the candidate’s agenda before the student
community on behalf of the candidate.
4. Candidates will be solely responsible for the conduct of the campaigners during
campaigning and held accountable for the violations of the Election Code.
5. Candidates/Campaigners will be provided with an ID card by the SEC. After the ID
cards have been distributed by the Election Commission, the candidate and the
campaigners will be required to wear it at all times while campaigning. If found
campaigning without ID, it will be considered a Level-2 violation of the MCC [Under
section E of the Election Code].
6. Campaigners cannot be substituted or added once approved by the SEC. However,
they can leave the role at their sole discretion or if asked by the candidate.
(Such cases must be reported through the email to the SEC mandatorily.)

Guidelines for Voters:

1. Voters are allowed to have constructive discussion regarding a candidate’s
manifesto ONLY through personal interactions in a group of less than 10
individuals, which should not include any contesting candidate or their
campaigners. However, the contents of the discussion should not instigate others

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 or threaten to disrupt the harmony of the institution and/or election spirit. A voter
cannot directly ask for either votes or support/endorse for any candidate.
2. Criticism of any candidate by any voter when made shall be confined to the
manifesto of the candidate or any proven action of the candidate in relation to a
position of responsibility held by the candidate.
3. With reference to Point (1), one-to-one interactions by voters using messaging
services may involve sharing any candidate's manifesto/Video SOP or any other
content approved by the SEC ONLY. To determine which content is approved by the
SEC, the voter may contact the Election Commission.
4. Voters are not allowed to post any content (Posts, Stories, WhatsApp Status etc.)
related to elections on any social media platform.
5. Voters are not allowed to hold any public meetings (offline or online) related to
elections during the campaigning period.
6. No candidate/campaigner can ask any voter to campaign/forward/share on
his/her behalf any content even if the content has been approved by the SEC. The
voter may report any such candidate/campaigner to the SEC.
7. Candidates/campaigners may report any voter creating tension or obstruction in
their campaigning.
8. Voters are expected to adhere to the above-mentioned rules during the election
period. Violations may call for penalties and other disciplinary action(s).

VOTE PENALTIES
In case of violations that occur after the campaigning period has ended up till the
declaration of results, it may call for vote penalties. Depending on the seriousness and
scale of violations, the SEC may levy a vote penalty on the candidate’s overall vote count.
Therefore, the final result of the candidate will be a cumulative of the total votes casted in
their favor, minus the vote penalty, if applicable.

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Vote Penalty : It is the number of votes deducted from the overall vote casted in favor of
the candidate, according to violation of any campaigning rules and/or MCC.

The scale to be followed in levying the vote penalty is in accordance with the levels of
violation mandated in the Model Code of Conduct (Section E.1). The range of penalties
liable under each level of violation is mentioned as below in the table. However, these
numbers are only indicative, and the final decision depends on case to case basis, at the
discretion of the SEC. The Election Commission’s decision will be final and binding to all.

Note that the violations in the period specified above may also lead to penalties other than the
vote penalty, as defined in Section E.1 of the Election Code. For instance, a Level 3 violation
might also lead to cancellation of candidature.

Percentage of Vote Penalty*

Violation Category
(To be deducted from total votes casted in candidate’s favour)

Level 1 2.5%

Level 2 5%

Level 3 10%

*indicative

The vote penalty mentioned here is applicable to one violation. In case of multiple
violations of the same kind, the percentage will be added and levied on the candidate’s
total vote count. For example-

Case 1: If a candidate is found committing a Level 1 violation, it will attract a 2.5% penalty
of the total casted votes as per norm. But if the same violation is repeated on multiple
occasions, the penalty will be then counted as a Level 2 violation and an additional 5%
penalty will be imposed. So 7.5% (2.5% + 5%) of vote penalty from the overall vote casted in
the candidate’s favour will be deducted.

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Case 2: If a candidate commits a Level 1 violation with multiple individuals (say, 5), the
overall penalty will be that many times into 2.5% of votes penalty (so, 5x 2.5%= 12.5% vote
penalty on overall vote count of the candidate).

Reporting the Violations:

1. Violations of any rules should be reported in writing directly to the SEC. The
identity of the reporter/whistleblower will not be disclosed under any
circumstances and remain anonymous.
2. One can use the option to file complaints anonymously if he/she feels
uncomfortable in reporting directly to the Election Commission or its
members through any of the available modes. This ensures that the voters
can share any violations freely without disclosing their identity to anyone
(including SEC).

Accountability of the Election Commission:

● The Election Commission may take independent decisions in case of any dispute
pertaining to the elections. The decision will be final and binding to all.
● In case of any doubt or confusion about interpretation of any of the rules/content
pertaining to the elections, the decision/interpretation of the Election Commission
shall be final and binding.
● In case of any dispute arising out of the electoral process at any stage, the decision
of Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission shall be final and binding.
● All legal cases arising from the elections will be subjected to the Director having
jurisdiction over IIT Gandhinagar .

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 ● The EC may relax the rules/advisory/documents/content at its own discretion if it
deems it necessary to do so and will update through proper means. It's solely the
responsibility of the community to be updated with the same.
● Candidates who want to participate in the electoral process must carefully read all
the documents/advisory and must be updated with the same. The EC shall not be
liable or held responsible.
● In case of any conflict/ambiguity with the Election Code, this ‘Campaigning Rules -
2023’ document will take precedence/prevail/supersede over any other
document(s).

Copy To:
1. Director, IIT Gandhinagar
2. Deans (SA & AA)
3. Associate Deans (SA & AA)
4. Assistant Registrar (SA & AA)
5. Student Council
6. Election Records/Archives for information
7. Election Officials for compliance and necessary action(s)

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