Panjab University Senate Elections Approved Amid Student Protest Victory

The proposed schedule suggests that elections for principals and staff of technical and professional colleges be held on September 7, 2026, followed by polling for professors, and then for associate and assistant professors of university teaching departments, on September 14, 2026. Elections for heads of affiliated arts colleges, along with professors and associate and assistant professors of these colleges, as well as registered graduates, are planned for September 20, 2026. Faculty-wise elections on campus are set for October 4, 2026, with scrutiny and counting scheduled immediately after each polling day.

The approval has been formally communicated to the Vice Chancellor of Panjab University, Prof. (Dr.) Renu Vig, through an official letter issued by Sarita Chauhan, under Secretary at the Vice-President Secretariat.

According to the communication, the election schedule proposed by the university in its correspondence dated November 9, 2025, has been cleared without any changes.

Copies of the approval letter have also been sent to Praveen P Nair, IAS, PS to the Union Minister of Education, and VP Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT Chandigarh.

Sources said the notification brings an end to the prolonged delay in holding the Senate elections. The Senate, which has a tenure of five years, completed its term on October 31, 2024.

Before the new Senate could be elected, the Centre had dissolved the previous Senate, halting the election process. The approval comes amid continuous protests on campus.

For the past 25 days, members of the 'PU Chandigarh Bachao Morcha' had been staging a sit-in demanding the announcement of the election dates. Several organisations joined the agitation, which also saw a call to shut down the university on November 26.

Protesters had warned of gheraoing all BJP offices in Punjab on December 3 if the schedule was not announced.

With the Vice-President's nod coming ahead of the threatened demonstrations, student groups termed it a victory. Members of the 'Panjab University Bachao Morcha' announced that they would take out a 'victory march' on Friday afternoon, calling the approval a win for the students' movement.

- ANI