PU polls 2023: 74 ABVP members switch to NSUI, Kanhaiya insists party united

The National Students Union of India (NSUI) will contest the Panjab University student elections for all four posts, party’s national in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at Congress Bhawan in Sector 35, where 74 members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) joined the NSUI.

“Even if we have to make alliances with like-minded parties, we will ensure that our candidates stand for the elections. We will seek votes for the entire panel and not for individuals,” he said.

On rumours of infighting within the NSUI ahead the elections, Kumar said, “All members are working towards the betterment of the party as a single unit. If any member is found undermining this, we will take action regardless of what post the person holds.”

Kumar, however, played coy on whether one of the new joinees will be fielded as the party’s presidential candidate. “The party doesn’t differentiate between its members,” he said.

Among the prominent members to join the NSUI are Jatin Singh, former convener of ABVP at PU.

NSUI national president Neeraj Kundan said they were interacting with students and working on a manifesto for campuses around India. A townhall will be organised to approve this manifesto.

Referencing the recent string of suicides at Kota, Kumar alleged that the National Education Policy was being used to increase fees, even though education was a fundamental right.

He said NSUI’s working will be based on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s slogan during his Bharat Jodo Yatra: “Judega Bharat Jeetega India”.

Despite ban, ABVP brings outsiders to campus

A day after the dean students welfare (DSW) and UT police, in an all-party meeting, had directed student parties not to bring political leaders or any outsiders inside the campus, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), during an event at the Student Centre, called ABVP office-bearers who are not students of the university.

The event was held to unveil ABVP’s candidates for the president and general secretary posts that were announced on Monday. The announcements were made by ABVP north zone regional organisation secretary Vijay Pratap, Punjab state president Rajan Bhandari, Punjab state organisation secretary Rahul Sharma and state secretary Aditya Takiyar. None of them is a PU student.

When asked about this, ABVP’s PU president Rajat Puri said, “The ABVP officials are appointed by the party, so it is right for them to do the unveiling of candidates. They had just come to the Student Centre for the event and left right after. The event was totally peaceful. They were not here for any campaigning.”

DSW Jatinder Grover said entry of outsiders was not allowed, adding that he had not received any complaint about the incident, but action will be taken once it was submitted.

Previously, the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) had called Dharamkot MLA Davinderjeet Singh Laddi Dhose to the campus on multiple occasions, evoking protests from other student parties. Following this, authorities had directed all student bodies not to bring any political leaders or outsiders to the campus.

Roll back of fee hike, relative grading for engg students on SFS manifesto

The Students For Society (SFS) released their manifesto for the upcoming Panjab University Campus Student Council elections on Tuesday.

The body has included their opposition to fee hike as the first point after protesting against this earlier in the year as well. They will also fight for getting the fee structure fixed for the whole course at the time of the admission.

They want to introduce relative grading systems for engineering courses as implemented in IITs, as students are facing problems in placements due to this. For the Panjab University Committee Against Sexual Harassment (PUCASH), they will campaign that members are appointed through elections.

They will also campaign for changing the odd-even system for reappearing in exams, recruitment of regular teaching faculty and construction of a reading hall in South Campus, among other issues.

Sath announces vice-president candidate

Sath has decided to field Ranmeekjot Kaur for the vice-president’s post. The party held an event at Student Centre to announce Kaur’s candidature. She is a first-year BDS student at Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital. Filing of nominations will be held on August 31 from 9.30 am to 10.30 am. The list of approved candidates will be displayed on September 1.