Chandigarh: PU elects its student council on September 5
As many as 182 polling booths will be made in various departments of Chandigarh’s Panjab University and a total 306 ballot boxes will be used
: Panjab University is set to go to polls on Thursday to elect members of the new Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC).
There will be 15,854 total voters in the university. As many as 182 polling booths will be made in various departments and a total 306 ballot boxes will be used. For total 127 departmental representatives (DR), 62 have been elected unopposed and 65 will be elected through elections which will be held along with the PUCSC elections.
Apart from eight active candidates vying for the president’s post, there will be four active candidates for vice-president, four for secretary and six for joint secretary. This is the first time that three women candidates are in contention amongst the eight president hopefuls.
Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), which had won the president’s post in their debutant poll in 2022, will aim to repeat that performance this year after their loss to Jatinder Singh of National Students Union of India (NSUI) in 2023. Ayush Khatkar of CYSS had won the 2021 election while in the 2019 elections, Chetan Chaudhary of the Student Organisation of India (SOI) was elected the campus president. The year before, Kanupriya from Students For Society (SFS) had become the first woman president of PUCSC in 2018.
No clear winner during campaigning
The campaigning this time has left everyone guessing who will emerge the winner. The CYSS are in a strong position with a largely popular presidential candidate and with NSUI weakening their position due to their infighting and the emergence of Anurag Dalal as an independent candidate.
The ABVP, which has never won the presidential seat till now, is also a strong contender but some fear that the Punjab region’s stance towards BJP will likely keep students from voting for the ABVP in large numbers.
Alliances to play key role
There are two alliances announced for the elections. CYSS which was initially contesting only for the president seat has now formed an alliance with University Students Organisation for vice-president, Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) for secretary and Himachal Pradesh Students Union (HPSU) for joint secretary’s post.
Independent candidate Anurag Dalal’s name is also emerging as a strong contender, especially among the research scholars. He filed his nomination as an independent candidate but since then he has formed an alliance with Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) and they are supported by the Students Front party from the evening studies department and Himachal Students Union (HIMSU).
Last year, Jatinder Singh of NSUI with 3,002 votes was declared the winner followed by Divyansh Thakur of Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) with 2,399 votes and Rakesh Deshwal of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who polled 2,182 votes.