PU student elections: ABVP continues its struggle to get into council, has high hopes
Since the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP) has not been able to secure even a single seat in the student council in past two years — despite making an alliance with other student bodies — the body is struggling hard this year to get into the council.
Since the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP) has not been able to secure even a single seat in the student council in past two years — despite making an alliance with other student bodies — the body is struggling hard this year to get into the council.
Senior leaders said probably their alliance was not that strong in the past two years considering the fact that student politics is dominated by alliances.
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The ABVP workers were seen holding hunger strikes demanding rollback of fee hikes, raising the issue of Rohith Vemula’s death and Kanhaiya’s arrest, on the Panjab University (PU) campus to grab students’ attention thus getting more votes.
State joint secretary of ABVP, Punjab, Harmanjot Singh Gill said, “All questions will be answered in this year’s student polls. The ABVP is emerging as a strong organisation and I can say it looking at the response we have been getting from our supporters on the campus.”
“Starting from the fee hike issue, we have raised issues, including JNU row and lack of facilities in the hostels. We also initiated peace campaigns against the organisations spreading violence on the campus. We have been working in favour of the students and wish to continue the same,” Gill said.
The student body is also planning to field girl candidates for the posts of president and joint secretary for this year’s elections.
Sourabh Kapoor, Chandigarh organising secretary of ABVP, said, “We have planned to give representation to girls in our panel, which is yet to be declared.”
“Student elections have clearly become glamour politics, thus we are going by the students’ demands. We have planned to throw them parties, and take them to discotheques and movies,” Kapoor said. “It was in 2013, when ABVP had announced girl students as presidential and the vice-presidential candidates. The same year, ABVP’s vice-presidential candidate was elected in the students’ council.”
Kapoor said, “Another plan is to contest for the post of president, independently while for other posts, we shall make an alliance with other student organisations.”
To start ‘My Manifesto’ campaign from Aug 22 ABVP will start its ‘My Manifesto’ campaign from August 22 onwards to take feedback from students.
The body will prepare its manifesto on the basis of the feedback.
Senior leader Harmanjot said, “The campaign will be held in two forms — one at the department level and another at the student level. At the department level, we will take feedback from the students in terms of their respective department — regarding their classroom environment, teachers, infrastructure and other facilities — while at the students level, we will ask students about the problems they face in hostels and the university. After analysing it, we will release our election manifesto.”
