Chandigarh, November 4 — Protests over the Centre’s sweeping restructuring of Panjab University’s (PU) senate and syndicate spilled onto Chandigarh’s streets on Monday, drawing political heavyweights, student unions and academics into a fierce battle over the university’s governance.
The Chandigarh unit of Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led a candlelight march at Sector 17 Plaza, while its councillors disrupted a Municipal Corporation House meeting by raising the issue. Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla of the BJP disallowed discussion, saying it was outside the civic body’s jurisdiction.
On the university campus, tensions intensified as students shut Gate No. 2 and began an indefinite sit-in around 2 p.m., preventing entry or exit of staff and officials late into the night. Haryana Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Punjab AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang, former SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, and BSP president Avtar Singh Karimpuri visited the protest site to express solidarity.
Chandigarh Congress MP Manish Tewari sharply criticised the BJP-led Centre’s move, calling it “constitutionally untenable and historically flawed.”
“This is a legal travesty — an unconstitutional overreach into a state law,” Tewari told reporters: “The Panjab University Act, 1947, is a state enactment. It cannot be amended through a reorganisation provision decades later.”
Tewari said he would raise the issue in Parliament as former senators began preparing a legal challenge. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also accused the Centre of “encroaching on Punjab’s heritage and federal spirit,” echoing similar statements from senior AAP and Congress leaders.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) termed the Centre’s decision “anti-Punjab and unconstitutional.”
However, a section of academia welcomed the reforms. Former Vice-Chancellor KN Pathak called it “a very good development, long overdue and debated for 30 years.” Arun Grover, another former VC, said the Centre had “filled a governance vacuum,” while former senator and Gurugram University VC Sanjay Kaushik described the move as “a thoughtful attempt to align governance with contemporary needs.”
Promila Pathak, former PUTA president, and Devinder Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Dr BR Ambedkar National Law University, said the new structure would “enhance representation and strengthen academic governance.”
