| Rahul visit helps NSUI win Panjab University polls |
7th Sep 2013
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NSUI supporters taking out a victory rally post their win | Photo: T.S. Bedi
he Congress party may be having hard time at the national level but the Congress affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) created history in the annual student union elections of the Panjab University (PU). Chandan Rana, NSUI presidential candidate, won the election by more than 800 votes. By bagging two posts of President and Joint-Secretary, NSUI made a noticeable impact in the election. Arch rivals Students' Union of Panjab University (SOPU) and Panjab University Students' Union (PUSU) tasted defeat for the first time. This was also the first time that the erstwhile foes had come together after several decades to oppose the NSUI.
The NSUI presidential candidate Chandan Rana was supported by HIMSU, a student front from Himachal Pradesh. Rana defeated Satwant Singh who was backed by PUSU- Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)-Indian National Student Organisation (INSO)-National Students Organisation (NSO) alliance with a margin of 838 votes. "We managed to maintain peace but the Student Council as well as the Panjab University Students Union supporters have alleged that there was mass scale violation of the election code. But as the counting reached mid way it was clear that NSUI was going to win the President's post," said a University official, who declined to be named.
Right from the beginning both SOPU and PUSU were not confident about a win. Hence they chose alliances for enhancing their prospects. Nevertheless, it could not show any positive results as the presidential candidates of these two parties failed. It is worth mentioning that candidates of INSO and ABVP, who had joined hands with PUSU to contest the polls, won the posts of secretary and vice-president respectively.
A jubilant Chandan Rana
"We've seen the popular parties PUSU and SOPU dominating the elections for a long time but both failed to show any major impact in the elections this time. Hopefully we'll be able to see some positive change otherwise even these newly elected campaigners will not last," said Swati Sharma, a law student. PUSU-alliance backed candidate, Disha Arora, won the post of Vice-president and Abha Sharma of the same alliance won the post of General Secretary. The post of joint secretary was won by Sunny Mehta of the NSUI.
Rahul Gandhi's visit to the Panjab University in 2011 is supposed to have been the game changer for the university elections. NSUI's win clearly displays Rahul's dominance over the young brigade as NSUI is a national-level students' party backed by the Congress.
Both PUSU (constituted in 1977) and SOPU (constituted in 1985) possess enormous political clout in the university elections. PUSU has contributed 9 presidents while SOPU has contributed six. In the history of Panjab University elections, both are considered as the most successful student political organisations. But the Gandhi effect has dealt a major blow to these regional organisations.
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