Chaos, Protests and Pressure: Centre Approves PU Senate Election; Students to Hold Victory March Tomorrow

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): The Centre has approved the dates for the Punjab University Senate elections, and the Vice President’s office has issued the official notification. Secretary Sarita Chauhan confirmed that the elections will be held according to the same schedule earlier proposed by the university administration. With this approval, the election process has now received formal clearance.

Following the announcement, student organisations have planned a victory march for tomorrow. The Senate of Punjab University has a five-year tenure, and the previous Senate ended on 31 October 2024. Before the new Senate could be elected, the Central Government dissolved the old one, due to which the election process had been stalled.

The approval has brought relief across the university community. The administration will soon release the detailed programme and move ahead with the election procedures. For the past 25 days, the “PU Chandigarh Bachao Morcha” had been staging a sit-in on campus demanding the announcement of election dates. Several organisations also joined the protests. The protestors had warned that if the dates were not declared by 3 December, they would stage a blockade at all BJP offices in Punjab. The approval came just before this planned action.