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PU senate polls: Former senators, students protest
Panjab University’s decision to defer polling for the graduate constituency, which was scheduled on August 18, opposed
Panjab University (PU) students, former senators and candidates on Saturday held a protest outside the office of vice-chancellor Raj Kumar against the postponement of polling for the registered graduates’ constituency.
The protest call was given by various student bodies of PU including National Students Union of India (NSUI), Students For Society (SFS), Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), Students Organisation of India (SOI) and Punjab Students Union (PSU-Lalkaar). However, former PU senators and a few candidates of the graduates’ constituency also joined in.
The protesters condemned varsity’s move to defer polls and demanded that they be conducted immediately.
The registered graduates’ constituency was to go to polls on August 18, but PU on Friday deferred polling saying that the decision was taken for the “time being” in view of non-availability of required booths in Punjab and Haryana.
DPS Randhawa, who is contesting from the constituency, said, “These are deliberate attempts to tinker with the democratic set up of PU. We are against the deferring of polls and we will not stop until elections are held.”
The registered graduates’ constituency is the largest with around 3.61 lakh voters who elect 15 members to the senate. Polling booths are set up across seven states/UTs.
“I think this was all planned because for the first time the polling of this constituency was scheduled on a working day. Voters can be given alternative booths to vote wherever the varsity is facing problems, but elections should be held immediately because the PU is functioning without a governing body,” said Jagwant Singh, general secretary of Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (PFUCTO), who is also a candidate.
Meanwhile, Panjab University Teachers' Association also issued a statement on Saturday that the postponement of elections was not good for restoration of democracy: “PUTA will continue to fight till democracy is restored.”
