Two Visions, One Future: The 2026 Chairperson Race in a Declining Democracy

Sri City: On February 9th, the student body assembled to watch the latest candidates who stood for Chairperson this year. The numbers were short on both ends of the podium, with this year's elections having only two people standing for the Chairperson position and the speeches having one of the lowest turnouts ever. Both candidates brought up unique goals and strategies along with some shared goals. Each of them has their own share of extended experience in the Student Government, having served in different roles for the past two years. This means that this election is one to watch, to ensure promises and responsibilities are being held up, in a time where student interest and participation in matters related to governance is on a concerning decline. 

Yuthika’s Bid: The Delicate Balancing Act of Continuity and Change 

A second year psychology major who has served as MoCC for the past two years, Yuthika has a vision that attempts to balance continuity and change, tempered by her experiences of student governance which have allowed her to “to step into the role of chairperson with the relationships, understanding and commitment needed to start making real change from day one” [Candidate Speeches]. 

One of her main goals is the health and wellbeing of students, extending into OHC revamp and increasing access to resources for mental health care.. Some of her major goals from her manifesto include addressing OHC grievances, campus life and facilities, increased collaboration, continuity of current initiatives, campus safety and support, addressing staff mistreatment and disciplinary committee representation. 

Some promises like increased collaboration, OHC grievances and addressing staff mistreatment, are promises that the student body has heard over and over again for the past couple of years. 

The question is then, why do these promises continually resurface only during election season, and what will Yuthika do differently to ensure these promises on her manifesto are translated into real action? When this question was posed by Leher, she replied with two main strategies - to 

“finish the initiatives that the current chairs have taken [since] the end goal is not always met before your term is over” and “and at least, if not finished, even though I would like to finish, but at least start on the promises that I plan to make [which are based on] what I have done as MoCC the past two years” [personal interview]. 

Another point she stressed extensively during the speeches and the following Q & A was the aim of closing the feedback loop by providing regular updates on matters raised in townhalls, which is an admirable strategy towards increasing transparency and showcasing the work of different ministries, thereby increasing trust in the student government. 

With regards to staff mistreatment, she admits that “ with topics like this that require very extensive work, you can't ask for change immediately”. Her goals also reflect this, as they are small requests to improve staff conditions on campus, such as recreation spaces for them and asking for reasons as to why they're not allowed to interact with students freely to [hopefully] step by step create a better working environment for staff [personal interview]. 

Overall, Yuthika’s proposal seems to reflect an attempt to balance continuing work started by the previous Chairpersons and bringing up new strategies and points to address concerns like low student attendance and improving feedback mechanisms. But given past promises that have remained unfulfilled or unfinished, it is time that will show if Yuthika is truly able to accomplish her plans this time around.

Amandeep’s Goal: Big Goals, Short Year 

Amandeep, a third-year Literature and Psychology major, currently the Interim Chairperson for the 2025 Student Government and the previous  Information Coordinator for two terms brings to the table a clear vision and big goals. He states in the very beginning of his speech that due to “overall challenges with campus life, there was a point where it all started to eat away at me and I started to wonder how much longer till I let all of this rot away in just a random Google Doc and that is what motivated me to run for chairperson”. [Candidate Speeches]  

His claim is backed by his ambitious 7 page long manifesto spanning various issues including continuing projects started by the previous Chairperson, active crisis preparedness intervention,  OHC reform, policy updates and distribution, aiding inclusive infrastructure practices, broadening student exposure, inter-RH mobility, collaboration with other schools, addressing ministry fragmentation, better utilizing social media, broadening student engagement and the scope of work of the UWC’s. 

His speech focused on all these goals but stressed the importance of managing and maintaining infrastructure, through infrastructure audits and tightening food safety guidelines as a part of crisis management. When Leher questioned his exact authority in facilitating infrastructure audits, as these are administrative decisions rather than student-led decisions, he clarified that his role would be to provide feedback to the administration and communicate problems to them [Candidate Speeches]. 

Another important goal for him is to address ministry fragmentation within the Student Government and ensure the Student Government creates an environment encouraging students to attend various events. His key strategy to address ministry fragmentation is to encourage all members and ministries within the Student Government to attend all meetings and events related to the Student Body such as the Gender and Consent Advocacy volunteers events, volunteer at DJ Nights and generally show support to all Ministries because “ you're still a part of the SIAS student government as a unit at the end of the day” [personal interview]. 

On the matter of ministries, he has some very interesting ideas on expanding the number of ministries within the Student Government based on similar models in Ashoka University. Some new ministries up for consideration include a Ministry of Sports that would expand the Sports Club into a full fledged ministry to reduce administrative delays and a Ministry of Technology that would expand the role of the IT UWC into a three member ministry to cover IT issues across campus like Wi-Fi and ERP related queries. However he stated that “people at Krea are a little bit resistant to change, they'll you know point out all the loopholes and why is this even necessary” so how long it takes for these proposals to come through and for them to materialize still remains a mystery [Personal Interview]. 

Overall, Amandeep definitely has some interesting and much needed ideas to implement in his possible term. But a lot of these goals seem to be pretty long term in nature and we’ve seen the problems with long term goals in the past where they rarely translate into actionable work. Whether his tenure, if elected, would bring tangible reforms or get lost in a cycle of well-intended but unfulfilled promises is a question the student body will have to weigh carefully.

This term of elections remains quite unique since only two candidates are standing for the all-important position of Chairperson. At a time when student participation in Student Governance-related activities and other activities are on the steady decline, the Chairperson’s role will be crucial in defining the future of not only the SIAS Student Government and its relevance but also the political awareness and urgency the Student Body will hold. Both candidates bring to the table big visions and strategies and leadership that promise fundamental change tempered by their long experience within the Student Government. Their ability to succeed in achieving these changes now lies in their ability to mobilize a latent student body towards a sense of urgency and care.

Writer Declaration : All audio recordings were transcribed into text form through the usage of TurboAI