Ruckus over NSUI president nomination

CHANDIGARH: The

Student Organisation of India

(SOI) and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Saturday created a ruckus over the eligibility of National Student Union of India (NSUI) presidential candidate Nikhil Narmeta’s candidature for the

Panjab University

Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) polls.


The two parties filed two objections on Nikhil’s candidature, alleging his age was more than what was permitted under the Lyngdoh committee guidelines and his attendance at University Institute of Engineering and Technology was short.

As per the guidelines, a candidate enrolled in an undergraduate course can contest campus polls up to 22 years of age. For a postgraduate candidate, the age limit is 25, while for a research scholar, it is 28. The guidelines state that age may be appropriately relaxed for candidates enrolled in professional courses that are of four to five years of duration. The guidelines also make it compulsory for a candidate to have a minimum of 75% attendance in classes.

The SOI party members alleged an absent marked in Nikhil’s attendance was changed to present by authorities favouring him. They also alleged that he was given attendance in classroom for a day he was writing exam just to fulfil the criteria. The members said a UIET professor, despite not being in the election committee, forcefully barged into the DSW office on a Congress leader’s directions to clear Nikhil’s name, following which his nomination was accepted for the election.

The ABVP, on the other hand, warned the PU election committee of strict action once they were voted to the student council. Responding to the allegations, Nikhil said his age was 22 years and six months, and maintained that he was eligible to contest as Lyngdoh guidelines give one year relaxation for professional courses.

“Filing objections against a candidate is a part of democracy. But the way they did it — disrupting placements at UIET — is not done. This would leave a bad impression of my department on the recruiters. The authorities colluded with opposition parties to put me down with false accusation, but we know who had the last laugh,” he said.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.