Groups at loggerheads over conducting senate polls at Panjab University

The election for the 91-member PU senate, which is the apex governing body of the university, is scheduled in August and September this year

Concerns have come from many corners over the conduction of the Panjab University senate polls amid the Covid-19 pandemic, especially for the registered graduate constituency.

HT file

As many as 15 members are elected from a registered graduate constituency.

The election for the 91-member PU senate, which is the apex governing body of the university, is scheduled in August and September this year.

The members of the senate hold different views regarding the conduction of elections amid pandemic that has become an issue of debate at the university.

On 25 July, Panjab University senators Subhash Sharma, who is ‘aligned’ towards the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Varinder Singh Gill and Gurdeep Sharma and SS Sangha, had written to vice-president Venkaiah Naidu who is also chancellor of the university regarding rescheduling elections considering the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, calling it an unreasonable demand, senator Navdeep Goyal, from the opposite camp, who is in alliance with Ashok Goyal, and Professor Ronki Ram and Keshav Malhotra have also written to the chancellor requesting that senate elections be held as per schedule as the election process has already started and final voter list in the various constituencies have also been released. In their letter, they had stated that the request to stop the election process is nothing but to impede the democratic process of the senate election.

Other senators have also written to the chancellor demanding that elections be held as per schedule.

Navdeep Goyal said, “Over 50% election process has already been carried out. Members from various constituencies have filed their nominations as well, so there is no point in rescheduling the senate elections now.”

PU senator Varinder Singh Gill, who wants the elections to be rescheduled said, “We had also taken opinion from the fellows in Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh and they feel that senate elections should be rescheduled taking into account the high risk of Covid-19.”