SOI’s Chetan Chaudhary is PU student council president

NSUI bags remaining three posts, ABVP and SFS draw a blank

Chetan Chaudhary, 23, of the Student Organisation of India is the new president of Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC).

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) student wing candidate polled 2,792 votes, helping his party win the top post after four years.

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), whose parent party Congress is in power in Punjab, managed to grab the remaining three posts. Rahul Kumar, Tegbir Singh and Manpreet Singh Mahal emerged victorious on the posts of vice-president, secretary and joint secretary, respectively.

The fight for the presidential post was nothing less than a roller coaster ride. Three of the four candidates were neck and neck till the last round of counting. However, Chetan managed to win with a margin of 479 votes over Paras Rattan of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Last year, the SOI alliance had won the secretary and vice-president post.

Celebrations erupted among supporters as soon as Chetan was declared winner around 7pm. Even senior Akali leader Bikram Majithia reached the campus to congratulate him.

Chetan completed BTech in biotechnology from the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) this year. After he failed to get admission to the MTech course, he had to join the Urdu department to contest elections. Though his family originally belongs to Nawanshahr, his parents run a transport business in Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the Student for Society (SFS), which scripted history last year after its candidate Kanupriya became the first woman president of the council, was relegated to the third spot in the presidential race.

Like last year, the left-leaning party fought only for the president’s seat. However, its candidate Priya could not repeat the feat.

The ABVP, too, was left embarrassed, drawing a blank this year as well.

Polling peaceful

Earlier, amid tight security, polling remained largely peaceful barring a clash between ABVP and NSUI supporters, which left one person injured.

As many as 61.7% of 16,138 eligible voters cast their vote, a marginal drop from last year’s turnout of 62%.

There was a lot of enthusiasm among students as polling began at 9:30am. Some students were also seen arguing with the staff after they reached the polling centre late. Brisk voting was witnessed in the arts block, although it remained slow in other departments.

As students were not allowed to enter department after polling ended around 11:30am, atmosphere at the Student Centre turned fervent as they started assembling there. As the counting began at the gymnasium hall at 2am, students turned to social media to get the updates.

The fight for secretary’s post remained the closest, as Tegbir Singh pipped ABVP alliance partner Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) Gaurav Duhan by just 10 votes. Recounting was also held before he was declared the winner.

INSO members also sat on a dharna inside the gymnasium hall. Party chairman Rajat Nain alleged votes of some of the major departments were not counted in front of them. However, observer Navdeep Goyal said recounting of votes polled at the University Institute of Engineering and Technology was conducted on the INSO’s demand.