Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has sought the intervention of Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar to ensure immediate senate polls in Panjab University, Chandigarh.

In a letter to the Vice-President, the chief minister said the non-declaration of senate elections in the Panjab University despite the expiry of the current senate’s term on October 31, 2024, is a highly emotive issue for the state.

He said the university was constituted under the Punjab University Act, 1947 (Act VII of 1947) and was established to compensate the State of Punjab for the loss of its main University at Lahore after the partition of the country in 1947.

The CM said after the bifurcation of the state in 1966, the Punjab Reorganization Act 1966 maintained its status, meaning thereby that the University continued to function as it was and its jurisdiction over the areas that were comprised in the present State of Punjab continued as such.

Bhagwant Mann said ever since then, the Panjab University, Chandigarh has been part of the rich emotional, cultural, and literary heritage of the state. Since the university was set up, its senate has been constituted every four years, with the members elected through a democratic process.

He said that strangely, the elections to the Senate have not been conducted this year, though, over the last six decades, these were held regularly in August – September of the relevant year.

The chief minister said the failure to conduct elections to the university senate, whose current term ended on October 31, has not only disenchanted stakeholders but is also against the canons of any good governance and the Law. He said that there is substantial resentment among the teachers, professionals, technical members, graduates of the university, and representatives of various constituencies for the delay in senate elections.

He said reports suggesting that the democratic election process might be replaced by nominations are adding fuel to the fire, as such an alteration would undermine the university’s democratic ethos and diminish the voice of the graduate electorate, which has always played a critical role in the governance of the institution.

Seeking intervention from the vice-president, Chief Minister Mann urged him to advise the Panjab University administration and the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh for the timely conduct of elections to the Senate of the University.