Chandigarh: Independents, alliances clinch power in UT colleges
Surprisingly, at Government College for Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 50, only one candidate was elected to the post of vice-president, that too unopposed
Students across nine city colleges picked their representatives to the student councils on Wednesday. While the city has 11 colleges, only nine went for polls, as at Guru Gobind Singh College for Women (GGSCW), Sector 26, the student council was elected unopposed like previous year.
Surprisingly, at Government College for Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 50, only one candidate was elected to the post of vice-president, that too unopposed. However, other contenders filled their nominations for all posts but did not qualify due to low attendance.
In all major co-ed colleges, alliances played a key role leading candidates to victory. After years of disappearance in city colleges, Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) relaunched itself, leading to winning all four posts at Post Graduate Government College (PGGC), Sector 46. They also formed an alliance with Students Organisation of India (SOI), Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) and Himachal Students Union (HIMSU) at DAV College, Sector 10, and won the joint secretary post.
SOI was able to secure only one victory at DAV College, Sector 10, and lost in PGGC-11 and SD College-32. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), National Students Union of India (NSUI), Himachal Students Union (HIMSU) and Himachal Pradesh Students Union (HPSU) remain the side runners, winning one or two posts that too in an alliance with other parties. The National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of Congress, could win only one joint secretary post at SD College-32. It is also worth noting that at two of the girls colleges in the city, all four posts were won by the independent candidates.
At Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42 and Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, student elections remained a lowkey affair with a maximum number of winning candidates contesting independently.
At SD College-32, the Independent Students Front (ISF) – formed by former members of SOI last year – contested in an alliance with NSUI and HPSU and emerged victorious on all four posts. The ISF candidate Rizwal Singh won the top post by securing 1,604 votes and defeated Sanatan Dharam College Union (SDCU) candidate Anirudh Singh with a narrow margin of 211 votes.
However, SDCU, which was contesting in an alliance with HIMSU and SOPU, accused college management of cancelling 40 votes for the post of vice-president and 29 votes for the secretary post by considering them invalid without any particular reason.
In a surprising development at Government College for Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 50, Harshdeep Singh was unopposed elected for the post of vice-president. There was no election for the other three posts, as there was no candidate eligible due to attendance shortage.
At DAV College, Sector 10, an alliance between SOI, Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), HIMSU and SOPU secured posts of president, secretary and joint secretary. SOI’s presidential candidate Harmehak Singh Cheema secured 1,333 votes, winning with a margin of 100 votes.
At Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, the alliance between Khalsa College Student Union (KCSU) and Gandhi Group Students Union (GGSU) won all four posts of the student council. KCSU candidate Sarabjeet Singh secured 879 votes, winning with a margin of 150 votes. This is their third consecutive year of grabbing all the three posts in the college.
At Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, the Hindustan Student Union (HSA) candidate Sachin secured 668 votes and became the council president. HSA contested in an alliance with ABVP and HPSU and defeated the alliance between SOI and PUSU on all four posts.
At Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11, the college saw GGSU win the election for the second consecutive year on all four posts with Mehakdeep winning the president’s post.
At Post Graduate Government College, Sector 46, SOPU gave a crushing defeat to Aam Aadmi Party’s student wing Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) winning all four posts. SOPU’s president candidate Pankaj secured 246 votes.
Less than 30% voter turnout in nine city colleges
Of the total 43,614 students across nine city colleges, only 12,975 (29%) exercised their vote for student councils. The rain on Wednesday changed the dynamics of voting in colleges, as many day scholars couldn’t come to vote due to road blockage and traffic jams in tricity.
Except Dev Samaj College for Women, voting in all colleges remained below 50% below. (See box)
Voter turnout at PGGC-11 saw a sharp decline as compared to previous year voting. A total of 2,064 votes were polled, with a voter turnout of 41.94%, which is lower than the previous year’s 68.77%.
Amid rainy weather and fear of low turnout, student supporters of various organisations were seen outside colleges, boosting the spirit of their candidates and encouraging students to exercise their right to vote.
With inputs from Aarya Kumari
