Panjab University student council elections: NSUI rebel Anurag Dalal bags top post

It was an unbelievable moment for all political pundits, as for the first time in the history of the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) elections, an independent candidate of a group formed just days before the polling won the top post.

The 26-year-old research scholar, Anurag Dalal of Democratic Students’ Front (DSF), won the top post by a margin of 303 votes. Anurag rebelled from the NSUI and was appointed the DSF head with the help of seasoned politicians to script a new chapter in the PU student politics.

Anurag polled 3,433 votes, while his nearest contender Prince Chaudhary of Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) bagged 3,130. The Congress-backed NSUI — which was expected to be DSF’s biggest rival — stomped to the sixth spot. Rahul Nain of the NSUI secured only 501 votes. ABVP presidential candidate Arpita Malik bagged 1,114 votes.

Meanwhile, the NSUI won the vice-president’s post. Archit Garg bagged the seat by polling 3,631 votes against 2,596 polled by his nearest rival Sath’s Karanpreet Singh. Jashanpreet Jawandha of the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), lost the secretary’s post to INSO’s Vineet Yadav. The latter bagged 3,298 votes, while Jawandha polled 2,939.

Jasvinder Rana of the ABVP won the post of joint secretary by a margin of 784 votes. He polled 3,489 votes to defeat Rohit Sharma of the HP Student Union.

66% voter turnout

In consecutive increase in voter turnout for the past few years, a total of 10,479 votes were polled in the PUCSC election on Thursday. Nearly 66% of the total 15,854 students cast their votes. Last year, 10,263 votes were polled. The voting, which commenced at 9:30am, remained peaceful and no incident of violence was reported. Notably, despite clear instructions, some students failed to bring their identification cards. During the counting of votes in Gymnasium Hall, objections were raised by few polling agents after some votes were found invalid.

No woman winner

Like last year, the PUCSC will be a mix house. This year, the top four posts are won by male candidates. Notably, there were three female candidates contesting for the top post in these elections.

Sidelights

• Emotions ran high as soon as Anurag Dalal won the election. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside the counting centre and raised slogans.
• Heavy police force was deployed across the campus. The focus shifted to the counting centre in the afternoon. The VC and the UT SSP also visited the centre.
• Commuters faced traffic jams in the PU vicinity in the morning, as students reached the campus in large numbers to cast vote.

What PU alumni say on student politics

The politics and democracy in Panjab University has always been a vibrant character of the institution. With the advent of mainstream political parties on the campus lately, there have been allegations that the focus has now shifted from student welfare to securing ranks in the arena of state/national politics. Most of the old-timers from the campus believe that the student politics need a revival and it should not be limited to just smaller issues. Akashdeep Virk speaks to a few who remained active in PU student politics.

A university stands for intellectual freedom, for the exchange of diverse and even diametrically conflicting ideas and opinions. It does not and should not be a platform of lumpenism and hooliganism. My time at Panjab University, though rather abbreviated due to a terror threat, was marked by an intense exchange of views when ideological polarisation was the norm rather than the exception since Punjab was going through its most tumultuous and troubled phase. —Manish Tewari, city MP, who is also former NSUI president and a PU alumnus

The student politics has been excessively politicised by direct interference of political parties now. The students should realise that the PUCSC, like any other root-level democratic institution, is supposed to be the voice of people, who are in this case students of the university. The PUCSC elections also prepare the students for democratic processes and its sanctity should be preserved. —Kuljit Nagra, ex-MLA and former PUCSC president

I vividly remember that I was the first female Department Representative in the university. This was in 1987-88 and I joined the IPS after completing MPhil in Physics in 1990. We were active in PU politics for welfare of students and acted as a bridge between the pupils and the authorities. This was the only motive. —Anju Gupta, former IPS officer and PU alumna

Mainstream politics, even if involved in student elections, was very minor and indirect in the days of yore. It was nothing like what it is today. —Rupinder Singh Khosla, Senior Advocate, former PUCSC vice-president (1983-84)