Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has registered its second consecutive victory in the student union elections held in Panjab University, Chandigarh. Ankit Bidhan of Jind district of Haryana has become the new head of the university. ABVP was contesting against Aam Aadmi Party's student wing Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) and Congress's student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI). ABVP has defeated both of them soundly and has hoisted the saffron flag at Panjab University for the second consecutive time. Many political meanings are being drawn from this victory and it is being linked to the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.
The condition of BJP in Punjab till now is the same condition of ABVP in Punjab University till last year, but Gauravveer Sohal of ABVP won last year and got ABVP entered in the student union for the first time. After this ABVP has won for the second consecutive time. A student union election is also being linked to Punjab because ABVP is the undeclared student wing of BJP. BJP leaders work hard for the victory of ABVP and from BJP President to Home Minister Amit Shah, all the BJP leaders congratulate on the victory and the newly minted head marks the important place for PM Modi in the hearts of Gen-Z. In such a situation, the whole country knows about this undeclared relationship.
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What are political pundits saying?
In Punjab, BJP was in alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) for a long time and also formed the government, but there is talk of both coming together again in the role of younger brother and in the political circles. Experts say that just as Akali Dal's student wing Student Organization of India (SOI) supported ABVP just before the elections, something similar can happen in Punjab politics also. SOI played an important role in the victory of ABVP and after the victory of this alliance, now the discussion of unity of BJP and Akali Dal has started in Punjab also. People are saying that just as we have registered victory in Punjab University, similarly we will register victory in Punjab also.
The second important thing is that Aam Aadmi Party has suffered the biggest setback in this election. AAP had given the responsibility of these elections to its senior leader and former cabinet minister and sitting MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and despite all efforts, he could not win his student wing. BJP is presenting it as a direct defeat of AAP in Punjab. In 2022, Meet Hayer had handled the campaign for the university elections and registered a resounding victory in the first attempt but could not return to the council after that. This is a big blow for the party just before the Punjab elections.
Talking about Congress, the condition of Congress is the same in Punjab University. Here also it is said for Congress that if all the factions of NSUI unite then no one can defeat them in Punjab University. The same is said about Punjab Congress. NSUI leader and councilor Sachin Galav has publicly admitted that there are two factions of NSUI in Panjab University, but those covering PU politics know that there are many factions of NSUI here. However, this time all the factions of NSUI supported the same candidate and tried to show unity. All the NSUI leaders were seen campaigning on one platform but still the result was not in their favor. This is also a big signal for Punjab Congress.
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Which way will Panthak vote?
The Panthic vote in Punjab politics has been with Akali Dal and their student wing in Punjab University for a long time, but like Punjab, the politics of Punjab University is also changing. With the rise of Amritpal Singh in Punjab, the Panthak vote seems to be behind him and his party has now made him the CM candidate. In such a situation, he has become a big challenge for all the political parties. His party leaders at Panjab University had supported the candidate of the Student Organization. Sath raises issues related to Sikhs in different parts of Punjab and considers human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalda as her role model. In such a situation, the Panthak vote of the university is associated with him but his candidate remained at the fourth position. In such a situation, political experts are saying that Amritpal's party will also face the same fate in Punjab and some people are even saying that the politics of Punjab is standing at the same juncture as the results have come in the university.
Is it a good sign for BJP?
Political experts are seeing the victory of Punjab University as an opportunity for BJP in Punjab. However, Punjab University and Punjab politics cannot be seen together. The first thing is that a large number of students from Haryana and Himachal also study in the university. There are a large number of students from other states including UP and Bihar in the engineering course, which means it cannot be seen only by linking it to the political mood of Punjab.
The second big factor is that ABVP candidate Ankit himself hails from Jind district of Haryana and was projected as the only candidate from Haryana. That means he has no direct relation with Punjab. The third important factor is the issues where BJP often lags behind in Punjab. There were issues like hostels, mess, fees of students in the university but in Punjab there are many issues like farmers' issues, Sikhism, conflict with the Centre, release of captive Sikhs, water of Punjab, rights on Chandigarh due to which BJP goes on the back foot.
Along with this, organization is also a big factor. ABVP worked on the organization in the university for many years and in every department there are workers associated with the ideology of ABVP who are associated with the party only because of ideology and are working for the organization, but the organization of BJP in Punjab is still very weak. In such a situation, the elections of Panjab University cannot be directly linked to the political mood of Punjab, but here it has to be kept in mind that till last year, Panjab University was also called an impenetrable fort for ABVP. Now the question is whether after ABVP, BJP will also be able to break the Abhej fort of Punjab?