PU polls: Law students turned tide of president, secretary elections

Newly elected president and secretary are both students of UILS, which is one of the most populous depts of Panjab University

Law students played a pivotal role in the victory of newly elected Panjab University student council president Aayush Khatkar and secretary Pravesh Bishnoi.

Both elected candidates are from PU’s University Institute of Legal Studies.

Both from University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Ayush was fielded by Aam Aadmi Party’s student wing Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), and Pravesh, a member of Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), was representing the ABVP led alliance.

UILS is one of the most populous departments of PU and both UILS and department of laws have more students than most departments.

Khatkar secured a total 2,712 votes, of which 541 were from students of UILS. Khatkar’s closest competitors, Harish Gujjar of ABVP led alliance and Gurwinder Singh of NSUI, received 221 and 112 votes, respectively, from UILS students.

The CYSS candidate also got maximum votes from department of laws at 179, while Gujjar and Singh secured 107 and 90 votes, respectively. Khatkar also secured the maximum votes from a few other departments including mathematics and physics.

Gurwinder, a student of University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), received fewer votes than Gujjar from his own department. Gujjar received 314 votes from UIET students, Gurwinder managed 303 and 241 votes were secured by Khatkar.

Meanwhile, Bishnoi, who secured a total 4,275 votes, received 1,064 of them from UILS, while his closest competitors Sagar Bawa and Saksham Garg managed only 187 and 42 votes, respectively

Bishnoi emerged as a favourite is the department of laws as well with 318 votes, whereas Bawa and Garg managed only 158 and 37 votes, respectively. He got the highest number of votes from various departments including dental institute, geography, physics and UIET.