Chandigarh: Big guns swept away in saffron tsunami at PU
ABVP candidate Gauravveer Sohal of Ludhiana won by a margin of 488 votes, securing 3,148 votes against Sumit Sharma of the Student Front who got 2,660
In a major breakthrough, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) clinched the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) president’s post on Wednesday, making it the first time in the campus’ 48-year electoral history that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) student wing has won the top post. The varsity started holding direct elections for the office-bearers’ post in 1977.
Party candidate Gauravveer Sohal of Ludhiana won by a margin of 488 votes, securing 3,148 votes against Sumit Sharma of the Student Front who got 2,660.
The student wings of other national and regional parties, Congress’ National Students Union of India (NSUI), Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) of the Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in Punjab, and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Students Organisation of India (SOI) fared poorly.
In all, there were eight candidates in the race for the president’s post in the high-stakes polls, which are closely watched by analysts as colleges in Punjab and Haryana don’t hold student council elections. While NSUI’s Parabhjot Singh Gill secured 1,359 votes and ASAP’s Mankirat Singh Mann polled 1,184 votes, all others after them, secured less than 1,000 votes. PU has a student strength of over 16,000, out of which, only 58.9%. SOI’s Seerat secured 422 votes, Students Organisation of Panjab University’s Ardas Kaur got 318 votes, PSU Lalkaar’s Jobanpreet got 198 votes while Navneet Kaur of Ambedkar Students Forum managed 136 votes.
Last year, NSUI rebel Anurag Dalal, who fought as an Independent after being denied a party ticket, had seized the top post while in 2023, the Congress student wing’s Jatinder Singh had brought it glory. In 2022, the AAP’s student wing, then known as the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, had won even though it was its electoral debut.
Sohal’s alliance partners fall flat
Interestingly, Sohal’s alliance partners – Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) and Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) – came a cropper, with none of them making it to the panel. INSO had been winning the general secretary’s post since 2022.
For the post of vice president, Ashmeet Singh of Sath party secured 3,478 votes. He won with a margin of 650 votes against Naveen Kumar of ABVP Front who secured 2,828 votes and Navdeep Singh of HSRA who secured 2,074 votes. Sath was previously in the student council in 2023 when Ranmeekjot Kaur won the post of vice president. However, she was removed from the party in around a month and served as an independent.
For the general secretary’s post, Abhishek Dagar of Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) secured 3,438 votes, winning by a margin of 722 votes against Vishesh Anand Dhaka of Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) who secured 2,716 votes. SOPU has made it to the student council for the first time since 2012 when they had the full council.
For the joint secretary’s post, Mohit Manderana secured 3,138 votes to win by a margin of 318 votes against Aryan Verma (Yuvi) of Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) and Himachal Pradesh Students Union (HPSU). Manderana was a rebel NSUI candidate backed by former NSUI Chandigarh president Sikander Boora and fought independently. Later, he allied with the main NSUI candidate. Even as NSUI performed poorly on the presidential seat, Boora’s candidate was able to win for a second consecutive year as last year’s PUCSC president Anurag Dalal had also been backed by Boora.
