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PU polls 2023: 9 to fight it out for president’s post
At nine, the number of presidential candidates this time is the highest in recent years; in the 2022 polls, eight candidates were in fray for the post
A total of nine candidates will duke it out for the post of president in the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) elections on September 6.
The final list of candidates for the much-awaited polls was displayed at the dean students welfare (DSW) office on Friday evening.
At nine, the number of presidential candidates this time is the highest in recent years. In the 2022 polls, eight candidates were in fray for the post.
While elections were not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2019, only four candidates contested for the top post and six in 2018. Even in 2017, only four vied for the post.
Of all the parties joining the contest for the president’s seat, only Panjab Students Union (PSU-Lalkaar) has fielded a female candidate — Manika Chhabra.
Since the students polls started in the nineties, the varsity has seen only one female president, in 2018 — Kanupriya from the left-leaning Students for Society (SFS).
This time, the party has picked Prateek Kumar for the post. Divyansh Thakur will attempt to retain the post for Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the student wing of the AAP, that had won last year in its maiden foray in PU student polls.
Yuvraj Garg is the presidential face of Student Organisation of India (SOI), the student division of SAD, that had last won in 2019. In 2017, the post went to Congress’ student body National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) that has picked Jatinder Singh this time in the hope of bagging the seat again.
For the 2016 president post winner, Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU), Davinder Pal Singh will aim to regain glory for the home-grown student body.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP, has nominated Rakesh Deshwal for the contest.
The eighth presidential candidate is Kuldeep Singh of Hindustan Student Association (HSA), while an independent candidate, Saksham Singh, has also stepped into the battle of ballots.
Also, four each candidates will be slugging it out for the posts of vice-president, secretary and joint secretary. Of the total 21 candidates, only three are women.
Election will also be held for departmental representatives (DRs). While at 40 departments, 58 DRs have been elected unopposed, in the remaining 29, students will vote to pick 68 DRs.
In the last elections in 2022, ABVP-turncoat Aayush Khatkar of CYSS had defeated Harish Gujjar of ABVP by 660 votes. NSUI had managed to grab two posts, with its candidates Harshdeep Singh Batth being elected as vice-president and Manish Bora as joint secretary. The post of secretary had gone to Pravesh Bishnoi, the joint candidate of the ABVP-led alliance.
Three alliances to battle it out
So far, three alliances have emerged in the run up to the polls. CYSS has joined hands with the Himachal Students’ Union (HIMSU), with the former settling for only the president’s post. Last year, too, CYSS was in alliance with Panjab University Helping Hands (PUHH) that has tied up with ABVP this time.
NSUI had also decided to contest the polls with the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), the student wing of Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) for the secretary’s post and Himachal Pradesh Students Union (HPSU) for the joint secretary’s post.
However, after a spat between two NSUI members at UIET, INSO PU in-charge Rajat Nain said a decision was taken on Friday to instead forge alliance with SOI and HPSU. SOI will contest for the president’s seat, INSO for vice-president and secretary, and HPSU for joint secretary. With no alliance, NSUI will only be vying for the president’s post.
Final candidate lists out for colleges too
The final lists of candidates for the Student Council elections 2023-24 at city’s colleges were also released on Friday. At DAV College, Sector 10, four candidates are in the race for the president’s post, whereas three are eyeing it at GGDSD College, Sector 32.
The candidates at GGDSD College are Lalit Jhorar from NSUI-HPSU alliance, Parwinder Singh from the alliance of Sanatan Dharam College Union, Himachal Students Union (HIMSU) and ABVP; and Yuvraj Singh Tiwana from SOI.
Similarly at DAV College, the candidates are Ashish from INSO, Gurprince Singh from NSUI, Jashanpreet Singh from SOI-ABVP alliance and Sahil Lathwal from the HSA-HIMSU-HPSU alliance.
At Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, all four posts were filled unopposed — Kamalpreet Kaur as president, Harpreet as vice-president, Navneet Kaur as secretary and Vrinda as joint secretary.
Section 144 is in force in city, SSP reminds candidates
Chandigarh SSP Kanwardeep Kaur held a meeting with the 21 finalised candidates in the presence of DSW Jatinder Grover, where she informed them that car rallies were completely banned and canvassing was also allowed in groups of only five, as Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was in place in the city till October 2023.
For conducting any big procession or rally, permission is required from the district magistrate. She said outsiders and weapons, including licensed, were prohibited on the campus. Candidates were also warned not to organise trips or parties, as campaigning expenditure should be below ₹5,000 according to the Lyngdoh committee guidelines.
