PU Council Poll: No decision on prez candidate, CYSS leaders in Delhi

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 26

Amid uncertainty over the presidential candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party’s student wing, Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), leaders of the wing and Punjab MLA Manjinder Singh Lalpura, who is also in charge of CYSS on PU campus, are camping at Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak’s house in Delhi.

According to sources, the leaders were there to decide on a name after consultation with the MP, who is also AAP national general secretary.

The AAP’s student wing, established in 2014, entered the university in 2022. It had won the maiden election the same year by winning the president seat. However, since most of the faces, including the winning candidate, were seasoned student leaders in other parties before they shifted to the CYSS, the party is reeling under factionalism on the campus. Since a lot of student leaders have been making claims to ticket, the party hasn’t been able to decide on a name.

“We were given a call on Sunday and were asked to be in Delhi on Monday. Most likely, it is the senior leadership in Delhi, which will be zeroing in on the name,” said a CYSS campus leader. Another student leader of the wing said, “It is unfortunate that Delhi leadership is deciding on the issue of the campus wing. We should be given a freehand to deal and decide regarding these matters.”

However, Lalpura, who is Khadoor Sahib MLA, claimed that they were there for a formal meet-up since Pathak was their national general secretary. “He is our leader and he motivated everyone to contest in a right manner. We seek guidance from him and the candidate will be decided by the local leadership in Punjab and Chandigarh only,” said the MLA.