ABVP And SOI Announce Alliance For Panjab University Polls Ahead Of General Elections
SOI, ABVP ally for university polls.
The student wings of two rival Punjab parties have joined forces on the eve of a closely watched university election, offering a small-scale preview of the larger political realignment being speculated about in the state. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Students' Organisation of India (SOI), backed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), announced their alliance on Sunday, a day ahead of polling for the Panjab University Campus Students' Council (PUCSC) elections scheduled for Monday.
Under the arrangement, the SOI has agreed to support ABVP's candidates and mobilise its supporters in their favour, effectively rallying behind a single nominee for the top post rather than fielding one of its own. That candidate, Ankit Bidhan, will represent the alliance in what has become a four-way presidential contest, also featuring Gurman Singh Sidhu of the Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India, Aadil Brar of the Aam Aadmi Party-linked Association of Students for Alternative Politics, and Darshpreet Singh of Sath.
The tie-up came about after the SOI's own presidential nomination ran into trouble. With its candidate disqualified over an eligibility dispute, the organisation opted to throw its institutional weight behind ABVP instead, turning its campus network and voter base into a bargaining asset in the race's final stretch. In its official announcement, the SOI framed the move as one aimed at student welfare rather than partisan gain, describing it as a demonstration of unity that rises above religious and emotional sentiments when the larger interest of students is at stake.
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The development has drawn attention well beyond the campus because it echoes an unresolved question in state politics: whether the SAD and BJP, once long-time coalition partners, will formally reunite ahead of Punjab's assembly elections next year. The two parties split in 2020 after the Akali Dal exited the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance over the Centre's contentious farm laws. Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia had said recently that many in Punjab favour a reunion, citing the state's status as a border region and the importance of preserving social harmony, while stressing that any final call rests with both parties' leaderships.
The PUCSC contest itself has not been without controversy. In the days before polling, rival student groups, including the NSUI and ASAP, accused university authorities and the ABVP of attempting to influence the outcome, allegations the ABVP has denied. Around 16,500 students are eligible to vote on Monday across roughly 180 polling booths, with heightened security deployed at campus entry points amid the tension. While neither the SAD nor the BJP has commented officially on a state-level alliance, the campus-level pact between their student wings is being read by observers as a notable signal of where relations between the two parties may be headed.
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