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Chandigarh: 6 out of 8 candidates from Punjab
This, even as the varsity has been witnessing a decline in the number of students from Punjab, owing to migration and other factors
In a major shift from recent years, six out of the eight candidates in fray for the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) president’s post are Punjabi faces, hailing either from Punjab or Chandigarh, as per the final list of candidates released by the varsity on Thursday.
This, even as the varsity has been witnessing a decline in the number of students from Punjab, owing to migration and other factors.
Over the years, the number of students from Haryana and Himachal has consistently grown in the university, a direct effect of which was seen in the election results as well. Last year’s winner Anurag Dalal and runner up Prince Chaudhary were both Haryanvi faces, securing 3,433 votes and 3,130 votes respectively. The Punjabi faces, Tarun Sidhu of Students Organisation of India (SOI) and Sarah of PSU Lalkaar, meanwhile trailed with 1,061 votes and 221 votes respectively.
The 2023 winner, Jatinder Singh Virk of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), had gone by the name ‘Jatin’ throughout his campaign to woo voters from Haryana and Himachal.
The 2022 winner, Ayush Khatkar, was from Haryana.
This time, only Sumit Sharma, who was vying for a ticket from National Students Union of India (NSUI) but ultimately got a ticket from Students Front, hails from Haryana.
Speaking about the trend, former president of Punjab Youth Congress and former PUCSC president Brinder Singh Dhillon said, “I feel happy to see that after so many years, so many Punjabi faces will be fighting for the PUCSC post. Further, two of the candidates have a full Gursikh appearance. Events of the previous year, and raking up the issue of renaming Panjab University to also include Haryana have stuck with people. Both NSUI and the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) were keeping a watch on each other’s candidates, so this kind of an outcome was expected.”
ASAP state spokesperson Vatanveer Singh Gill added, “Although I am delighted with the outcome, when we were planning on our candidate, we didn’t plan in advance to pick a Punjabi face. We only went by the merit of the candidate. Other parties too have decided their candidates based on our pick.”
Three women in the race
This time, three women have filled their nomination for the president’s post. This is the same as last year, when three women had fought for the post. Arpita Malik of ABVP had secured 1,114 votes and come third in the contest.
This is also the first time in recent memory when the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) has opted for a female face for the president’s post. While SOPU is contesting for the post of president after around 12 years, Ardas Kaur, the candidate for SOPU, said she has a huge responsibility to get a good result for the party. Kaur, who is from the city and passed out from Vivek High School, added that parties usually use women empowerment just as a political tool but she is motivated to actually work for women and educate them for their benefit.
Rebel alliance emerges
As the candidate list has been finalised, a rebel alliance has emerged, which includes candidates who have jumped ship from their original parties. This alliance includes Sumit Sharma, who was vying for for the NSUI ticket but is now contesting from Students Front with the support of Himachal Students Union (HIMSU), Naveen Kumar of ABVP Front for vice-president, a breakaway faction of ABVP, Abhishek Dagar of the Jashan Jawandha faction of SOPU and Sidharth Boora of the breakaway faction of Panjab University Students Union (PUSU). This is also the first time in PU’s history that PUSU and SOPU have entered into any kind of alliance, even if it is with their rebel factions. PUSU president Bhupinder Singh, who had earlier removed Boora, from the party took to social media to say that PUSU doesn’t belong to any one person and was formed by a collection of students. Meanwhile, SOPU has distanced itself from the Jashan faction of SOPU and announced their own pick for president.
In the final list, five candidates are also in the fray for the post of vice-president, five for the post of general secretary and four for the post of joint secretary. More alliances are likely to emerge in the coming days as no single party is contesting on all four seats.
