COLUMBUS: Eight political professionals from "the Ohio of India " are working at campaign offices in the American bellwether state as part of an international fellowship program.They're all University of Akron International Campaign Fellows, participating in a new program that allows students to swap campaign lessons with the political battleground. "The fellows are high-ranking professionals in their home country — political scientists, communications specialists and strategists from India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.Unlike Ohio, UP sends more legislators to the national governing body, Parliament, than any other state. But like Ohio, it has huge sway over which party wins a national majority and gets to influence who becomes prime minister. He fielded dozens of technical questions about how Ohio elections work.Austin said international connections made through the program are valuable to both sides. India's election season is just 45 days long.

Source: Times of India October 08, 2016 06:19 UTC