Chandigarh, August 24: With the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) elections around the corner, student parties are battling internal rifts even as campaigning intensifies. Police have confirmed that they are on alert this year not just for inter-party clashes, but for possible violence within factions of the same party.
The most visible split has emerged in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), where a breakaway faction, the “ABVP Front,” has been formed by members expelled in March after a violent clash at the party’s Sector 15 office. The original ABVP has distanced itself from the new group and even sent a legal notice asking it to change its name. Leaders admit the two groups are unlikely to unite, raising fears that they will cut into each other’s vote share.
Similar cracks are visible in the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU). Two rival groups—one led by Balraj Singh Sidhu and the other by Jashan Jawanda—both claim to be the “real SOPU.” While Jawanda’s faction has already announced Abhishek Dagar for the general secretary post, Sidhu’s camp is focusing only on the presidential seat. The dual claim is expected to create confusion among voters.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI), meanwhile, has managed to bring last year’s rebel Anurag Dalal—who won the president’s post as an independent—back into the fold. However, insiders say unity may be short-lived once the party announces its presidential candidate, with several factions competing for the ticket.
The Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), backed by Punjab’s ruling party, also faces jostling within. At least three leaders are lobbying for the top post, and at a poster launch at the Students Centre this week, each staged separate rallies with their own supporters in a public show of strength.
Even the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), which had until recently appeared unified, has fractured. Current president Bhupinder Singh expelled three members, accusing them of arrogance and indiscipline. The ousted members hit back with a video declaring Singh himself removed from the party, a dispute that risks splitting PUSU in the same way as SOPU.
Among the major outfits, the Students Organisation of India (SOI) remains one of the few to avoid factionalism. Election incharge Harkamal Singh Bhuregill said the party values loyalty and long-term commitment. “The whole party supports individual members for even small things,” he said, projecting SOI as the most stable choice in the fray.
With factions multiplying across the student political spectrum, observers warn that the upcoming polls may hinge less on party manifestos and more on whether divided camps can rally behind a single candidate. For the police, however, the bigger worry is keeping rival factions of the same party from turning on each other in the run-up to the elections.
