Prominent members of SAD wing join SOPU

Akashdeep Virk
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 30
Ahead of the student council elections scheduled for September, Student Organisation of India’s (SOI) prominent faces from Panjab University have shifted to the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU). The student leaders announced this during a press conference held at the Student Centre.
The SOI, the student wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal, has been witnessing a downfall for the past few years, especially after its leader Vikramjeet (Vicky) Middukhera was shot dead on August 7, 2021. Vicky was heading SOPU till he joined SOI in 2014 along with other prominent leaders, including Dalvir Singh Goldy Khangura, who was later elected Dhuri MLA in 2017. Middukhera had led the SOI to victory in 2015 and 2019. In 2015, the SOI’s presidential candidate had won the election with a margin of over 1,400 votes. The other three council posts were also won by SOI’s panel, which included Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), Himachal Students Union (HIMSU), National Students’ Organisation (NSO), Youth Organisation of India (YOI), Gandhi Group Students’ Union (GGSU) and Youth Welfare Association (YUWA). After 2015, the SOI has been able to win the top post of the council only once. In 2019, Chetan Chaudhary had won as presidential candidate but with a margin of 479 votes.
On the other hand, SOPU, a party established in 1997 which once held strong influence on the campus, registered its first win in 1998. It has not been able to win any post since 2012. In fact, the party had contested the 2023 election after a gap of three years and had lost the general secretary’s post — the only seat they had fielded a candidate for. However, the party may see a revival in coming polls now.
During the press conference, the student leaders joining SOPU alleged that instead of being asked to work towards student interests, the parent party leaders pushed them towards political happenings outside the campus. Refuting the allegations, SAD general secretary and SOI national coordinator Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna said some people left the party to join SOPU solely for vested interests. “Many members were doing more harm than good to the party. It is a positive sign that some faces indulged in anti-party activities have left SOI,” Khanna said.
“Some people have always shifted ideologies according to their immediate needs and switched sides, but such changes do not affect the party and its campaign,” said SAD’s national spokesperson Abhay Singh Dhillon.

Shot in the arm for student organisation
Prominent among those who joined SOPU are Karanvir Singh Kranti, SOI’s former Malwa zone president; Gurshan Dhaliwal, former campus president and general secretary of SOI; Angad Lubana, former general secretary, SOI, PU; Khushwinder Singh, former senior president, SOI, Patiala; Avtar Singh, Rimmy Khanna, Jashan Jawanda, Gurkaran Chahal, Mohit Rana, Sanjam Dhillon, Ravi Jhinjer, Karanvir Harika, Harman Gill, Shahdeep Singh and Sanyam Wadhwa. Apart from them, Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) leader Rohit Chaudhary also joined SOPU along with other students.