Chandigarh, Sep 6 (IANS): National Students Union of India’s (NSUI) Jatinder Singh was elected president of the Punjab University Campus Students’ Council with a margin of 603 votes on Wednesday.
He polled 3,002 votes against his nearest rival Divyansh Thakur of the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti or CYSS, who got 2,399 votes.
Ranmeekjot Kaur of Sath, the student body that reveres the deceased human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, was elected vice-president, while Deepak Goyat of Indian National Student Organisation or INSO was secretary.
Gourav Chahal of the Panjab University Helping Hands or PUHH was elected as joint secretary.
The ‘Sath’ emerged as a student group in the university in 2017. It revived a focus on Sikh and Punjab politics, marking a significant shift on the campus.
Amid deployment of over 1,200 policemen, polling for the four-member students’ council began peacefully in the morning with 21 candidates in the fray.
The major groups in the fray were Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), NSUI, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and INSO.
Nine candidates were vying for the top post of president and four each for the posts of vice-president, secretary and joint secretary. Davinder Pal Singh (PUSA), Divyansh Thakur (CYSS), Jatinder Singh (NSUI), Kuldeep Singh (Haryana Students Association), Manika Chhabra (Panjab Students’ Union Lalkar), Prateek Kumar (Students for Society), Rakesh Deshwal (ABVP), Saksham Singh (Independent) and Yuvraj Garg (Students Organisation of India) were in the fray for the top post.
The CYSS has joined hands with the Himachal Students’ Union (HIMSU).
The INSO has forged alliance with the SOI and the Himachal Pradesh Students Union, while Panjab University Helping Hands (PUHH) has tied up with the ABVP. In the 2022 elections, ABVP-turncoat Aayush Khatkar of the CYSS had defeated Harish Gujjar of the ABVP by 660 votes.
NSUI had managed to grab two posts, with Harshdeep Singh Batth being elected as vice-president and Manish Boora joint secretary.
The post of secretary had gone to Pravesh Bishnoi, the joint candidate of the ABVP-led alliance.
Ahead of the elections, the 533-acre campus was nothing less than a battlefield with university authorities and Chandigarh Police under the strict law.
The university has around 60 teaching and research departments and over 170 colleges are affiliated to it.