Tension at Panjab University as Students Protest Over PUCSC Elections
Tension prevailed at Panjab University on Monday as several students staged protests and raised slogans inside and outside the Law Department area over the ongoing Panjab University Campus Students' Council (PUCSC) elections, alleging that they were not being allowed to cast their votes despite completing the entry process.
The protesting students continued raising slogans against the police and university administration. Some students also breached the security arrangements put in place by the university administration and managed to enter the premises, according to ANI. The situation escalated as a scuffle broke out between the police and students, and security personnel have been deployed at the spot to maintain law and order.
SOI Extends Support to ABVP
Earlier in the day, the Student Organisation of India (SOI), the student wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), extended its support to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for the PUCSC elections.
According to an official post by ABVP, the alliance between ABVP and SOI was announced on Sunday, a day before polling for the PUCSC elections began at 9:30 am on Monday. The alliance came after the nomination papers of the SOI candidate were rejected, preventing the organisation from contesting the elections directly this year. Following the development, SOI announced its support for the ABVP-led alliance.
Election Schedule and Security Measures
As per the election schedule, polling in the respective departments was followed by the collection of ballot boxes for office-bearer posts from the Returning Officer on the ground floor of each concerned block from 11 am onwards. The boxes were to be transported to the Gymnasium Hall by DSW staff and wardens, reported The Tribune. Results for Departmental Representatives (DRs) were displayed in the respective departments from 12 pm, while counting of votes and declaration of results for the office-bearer posts took place simultaneously at the Gymnasium Hall.
Security was tightened across the Panjab University campus, with strict checks being conducted at all three entry gates amid concerns over the movement of outsiders. Security personnel were deployed at key locations, while vehicles and visitors entering the campus were being checked to maintain law and order during the election process.
Political Context: SAD-BJP Alliance
The coming together of the SAD's student wing and the ABVP comes days after senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia told ANI on August 21 that people in Punjab wanted the SAD and BJP to come together. Majithia cited Punjab's status as a border state and the need to maintain social harmony while making the case for the former allies to reunite.
Majithia said, “We should understand that the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP have worked together. Vajpayee ji and Badal ji strengthened this alliance, and it continued during Modi ji's time.” The SAD and BJP ended their alliance in 2020 after the Akali Dal withdrew from the BJP-led NDA over the Centre's farm laws.
Majithia added, “We had gone our separate ways over the farm laws. But considering Punjab's situation as a border state, social harmony and the social fabric, people want the two parties to come together.”