No single party contesting all four PU student council posts

No single political group is contesting all four posts of the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) this year. Even the groups belonging to national or state political parties are contesting the elections on limited seats, ruling out a ‘full panel’ win.

The ‘big’ departments will certainly have their say in the formation of the 2025 (PUCSC), but the ones with ‘small’ number of students may pose a challenge.

13 candidates from ‘big’ departments

A total of 22 candidates are contesting the four posts

Thirteen candidates come from big departments with the number of students between 1,200 and 2,600

Five candidates belong to departments with 100-200 pupils

One of the candidates is from a department having 200-300 students while the departments of three candidates have less than 100 students

Out of the 22 candidates contesting the four PUCSC posts, nine represents different departments having a low students’ strength (between 80 and 300). The remaining 13 candidates represent three major departments — the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), the University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) and the Department of Laws — having a strength between 1,200 and 2,600 as per the 2024 record.

Highlights of the day

Five female candidates are heavily pursuing girl students to appeal to them that they should exercise their right to vote on September 3. Last year, no female candidate had made it to the council.

Nearly 1,200 day scholars have applied online for the mandatory parking and entry sticker till now. Nearly 300 stickers have been allotted.

The canvassing will end on September 1 evening. Police and additional reserved forces will be on the campus on August 31.

Spaces to pitch tents near boys' hostel allotted to contesting political groups. The permission to hold rallies and their schedule have been issued too.

Panel numbers were allotted to various groups.

“The change is quite interesting. In previous elections, we have observed that parties contested all four posts. Instead of having self-belief, the parties are now relying more on alliances,” said Shruti, a political science student.

In the recent past, campus students showed their interest in choosing a mixed house instead of a full panel, considering the increase in the number of parties. As many as 17 parties are contesting the upcoming elections.

As per records, the presidential candidate for SOPU comes from the University Institute of Fashion Technology (UIFT), which has a total strength of 147 students, while the PSU Lalkaar candidate is a student of Department of Philosophy having a student strength of 82. The candidate of Students’ Front and HIMSU alliance comes from the Department of Geography with a recorded strength of 252.

These three candidates are pitted against contestants from the Department of Laws (ABVP and NUSI) having a student strength of 1,100, the UIET (ASAP and SOI), which has 2,518 students, and the UILS (AFS) having 1,950 students.

The race for the post of vice-president is also interesting. Among the five contenders are two representing a major department. The Sath candidate represents the UILS, while the USO’s face is from the UIET. Two independent candidates come from the Department of Biophysics, with a student strength of 101, and the Centre of Human Rights having 82 students. The ABVP Front candidate is from the Defence and National Security Studies having 158 enrolments.

AAP student wing launches ‘badlaav ka roadmap’

The Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), the student wing of Aam Aadmi Party, on Friday unveiled its manifesto "Badlaav Ka Roadmap" for the PUCSC elections.

In the manifesto, the party promised renovation of washrooms across campus and installation of sanitary pad vending machines in every girls' hostel, a 24×7 PU health centre with permanent doctors and ambulance services and a synthetic track for athletes. The party also promised a unified student ID portal for seamless access to services and records and strengthened alumni networking to boost internships and placements.

The event was held in the presence of party state president Harinder Singh Jonny, organising secretary Kawalpreet Singh Judge and spokesperson Vatanveer Singh Gill.

The post of secretary is being contested by candidates from the UILS, the UIET and the Department of Laws. Only the INSO candidate comes from the anthropology department, which has 190 students.

Two candidates for the post of joint secretary belong to the Department of Laws and the UIET, while one independent candidate is from public administration (141 students) and the other from Gandhian and Peace Studies (86).

“Students from departments with low strength are also in the race for the council posts this year. In the last election, an independent candidate from the Department of Chemistry, which had only 409 students, had won the top post. Votes of departments with high student strength get divided due to multiple candidates whereas it is easy to manage voters in small departments,” said Gukirapl Singh, a representative of SOPU.

“The groups now have three days to hold rallies (till September 1 evening). The time to hold a rally will be allotted after receiving requests,” said Prof Amit Chauhan, DSW.

A day of ‘alliances’

The ABVP on Friday joined hands with INSO and HSRC to contest the upcoming PUCSC elections. As per the settlement, ABVP member Gaurav Veer Sohali will contest the president’s post, while Navdeep Singh, an NSUI rebel, will be the alliance’s nominee for the vice-presidential post. Vishesh Anand Dhaka of INSO will be vying for the post of secretary, and Sagar Khatri, another NSUI rebel, will be fighting for the joint secretary’s post.

The NSUI joined hands with independent candidate Mohit Manderana, who will be contesting the post of joint secretary. Manderana is backed by Sikhander Boora, who was the man behind the victory of Anurag Dalal on the post of the PUCSC president last year.

The ASAP, the student wing of AAP, has confirmed its alliance with the USO and the HPSU. Mankirat Singh Mann and Komalpreet from the ASAP will contest the posts of president and secretary, respectively, while USO’s Jatin Kamboj will be the alliance’s vice-presidential candidate and RN Verma of the HPSU will contest the post of joint secretary.