Panjab University: 11 years on, ABVP back in council

While the presidential candidate of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) trailed third in the Panjab University Campus Student Council poll, the BJP-backed student organisation entered the council after 11 years and won a seat in the council for the first time without an alliance.

The ABVP had fielded its candidates for all four seats of the council. It was in the council the last time in 2013 when Disha Arora, a student of MA English, had won the vice-president post. The party had contested the election in alliance with the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) and the Indian National Student Organisation (INSO).

Prior to 2013, the party had a presence in the council in 2010 when it had won the post of secretary. Akhil Bansal was its candidate and the party was in alliance with the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU). Before this, the party had bagged two posts of the council – vice-president and secretary. Even then, the party had an alliance with the SOPU. Parul Chaudhary and Prashant Sharma were elected vice-president and secretary, respectively.

“We tried our best to win all four seats. This does not dampen our spirits and we shall continue to strive for the welfare of students on the campus. We respect the faith showed in us by the students. Despite efforts by other parties to stop us from rising on the campus, we still won the joint secretary seat,” said Rajat Puri, former campus president of the ABVP.