ABVP pulls off a rare repeat in Panjab University polls: Retains president post, 1st back-to-back win since 2014 | Chandigarh News
CHANDIGARH: After ending its 48-year wait for the PUCSC presidency last year, ABVP retained the post on Monday, becoming the first student organisation since NSUI’s back-to-back victories in 2013 and 2014 to achieve consecutive wins. The margin between the two triumphs is strikingly small.ABVP’s presidential tally rose by just one vote, from Gaurav Veer Sohal’s 3,148 last year to Ankit Bidhan’s 3,149 this year. Yet that solitary vote marks the difference between a historic breakthrough and an equally historic repeat.The total presidential vote was almost identical too. Last year, the eight candidates and NOTA together polled 9,613 votes; this year, the four candidates and NOTA accounted for 9,610. The size of the presidential vote pool barely changed- but its distribution did.In 2025, Sohal’s 3,148 votes were followed by Student Front’s Sumit Kumar at 2,660, NSUI’s Parabjot Singh Gill at 1,359 and ASAP’s Mankirat Mann at 1,184. This year, Ankit’s 3,149 was followed by ASAP’s Aadil Brar at 2,637, NSUI’s Gurman Singh Sidhu at 2,263 and SATH’s Darshpreet Singh at 1,387. NOTA fell from 188 to 174.
Retains PUCSC Prez Post, First Back-to-Back Wins Since ’14
The change in the field matters. Sohal had won 32.75 per cent of the presidential vote last year; Ankit’s share is almost identical at 32.8 per cent. Yet the winning margin increased from 488 to 512 votes. ABVP’s vote base has effectively remained unchanged while its lead has grown.That points to the opposition arithmetic. Last year, Sumit alone came within 488 votes of Sohal, while Gill and Mann together polled 2,543. This year, the opposition vote was still larger collectively, but it was divided among three challengers, with none matching Sumit’s 2,660.For ABVP, there was another significant change. Last year, the organisation itself was divided, with the ABVP Front contesting the vice-president’s post separately; its candidate Naveen Kumar polled 2,828. This year, the outfit went to the polls together.
