After HC rap, Panjab University announces senate poll schedule - Hindustan Times
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After HC rap, Panjab University announces senate poll schedule

ByDar Ovais, Chandigarh
Apr 07, 2021 12:54 AM IST

The polling will start from April 26 with the constituency of faculties that has 12 candidates in the fray and 754 eligible voters

Panjab University on Tuesday announced the polling dates for various constituencies of senate, which are pending since August last year.

The four-year term of the previous senate had ended on October 31, 2020. (Representational photo)
The four-year term of the previous senate had ended on October 31, 2020. (Representational photo)

The move comes days after the Punjab and Haryana high court pulled up PU vice-chancellor (V-C) Raj Kumar for the delay and told the university to conduct the senate polls within two months.

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The revised polling dates were proposed by the varsity and have been approved by the Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, who is the chancellor of PU.

The polling will start from April 26 with the constituency of faculties which has 12 candidates in the fray and 754 eligible voters.

After HC rap, Panjab University announces senate poll schedule
After HC rap, Panjab University announces senate poll schedule

The senate is a 91-member apex governing body of the university. While 36 are nominated by the university chancellor, two are nominated from the Punjab assembly, six are ex-officio members and the remaining 47 are elected.

The four-year term of the previous senate had ended on October 31, 2020. While the elections were scheduled in August last year, these were postponed twice by V-C Raj Kumar due to the pandemic.

According to the revised dates finalised by PU, the election for the constituencies of principals of technical and professional colleges and the staff of technical and professional colleges will be held on May 3.

The polling for the constituencies of professors and associate/ assistant professors of the university teaching departments is scheduled on May 10, while the constituency of heads of affiliated arts colleges will go to polls on May 16. Also, election for the constituency of associate professors/ assistant professors of affiliated arts colleges will take place on May 16.

As per the election schedule, polling for the registered graduate constituency, which is the largest among the constituencies of the PU senate, will be held on May 16. The registered graduate constituency has 3,61,879 eligible voters for which polling booths are set up in different states apart from Chandigarh and Punjab.

Former senator Navdeep Goyal, who is contesting from faculties, said, “This is a positive step taken by the university in the wake of the high court ruling. The governing body should be in place for the smooth functioning of the university.”

Last week, hearing the plea of seven former senators who had moved the high court on December 22 seeking directions to PU to hold the senate polls, the bench of justice Fatehdeep Singh had observed that provisions on governance have been thrown “off to the winds” and the university is being run as a “one-man show”. “No doubt the V-C is empowered to postpone the elections for the time being, but this does not clothe him with unbridled powers to carry on indefinitely when throughout the country elections are being held,” the bench added.

PU had earlier written to six states for permission to set up polling booths for the conduct of senate polls.

However, only Punjab and Delhi have given permission so far. PU’s official spokesperson Renuka Salwan said, “The other states have been intimated about the directions of the high court for the conduct of senate polls.”

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