The Panjab University Bachao Morcha — which has been protesting for nearly a month to demand restoration of the university’s Senate — declared on Wednesday (26 November) that on 3 December it will surround (gherao) offices of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chandigarh and throughout Punjab.

At a press briefing held at the protest camp, Morcha leaders said they would continue their demonstration until the university administration meets their demand. They want a formal announcement — a written confirmation — of a fixed schedule for the long-delayed Senate election.

What began as a student-led movement has now been overtaken by farmers’ unions, politicians, and activists. These groups — many with no direct connection to the university’s governance — have joined the protest under the banner of supporting the students’ cause.

According to media reports, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has assured the students that the schedule for the Senate election will be announced soon. Notably, the Senate election has not been held for over a year. Students, frustrated by the delay and waiting for several days, called for a complete shutdown of the university on Wednesday and held their protest near the office of the university’s Vice-Chancellor.

On 10 November, tensions escalated when non-student protesters clashed with police. As the police attempted to control the crowd, gatekeepers at the university were overrun and the main gates were torn down. Tractor trolleys, union representatives, political workers, and individuals carrying flags of various organisations — none of which are officially linked to the university — entered the campus in a short span.

The student agitation began after the central government decided to restructure the university’s governing bodies — the Senate and the Syndicate. The Ministry of Education had issued a notification changing the constitution and composition of these bodies. However, after widespread criticism, the government withdrew this decision on 7 November. Despite that, the students persisted in their demand: they demanded the university announce a date for the Senate election.

To understand the core of their demand: the university has two statutory bodies. The Senate — the supreme authority — consists of more than one hundred members. These include elected graduates, professors, student representatives, and nominees from both the Centre and the State. The Senate is responsible for setting policies, approving budgets, overseeing appointments, and making major academic and administrative decisions. The Syndicate, by contrast, is a smaller executive body with roughly 15 to 20 members; it carries out the decisions made by the Senate. Over the past year, the Senate elections at Panjab University have not taken place.

The student protest — aimed at pressing these demands — has now been hijacked by political parties. Leaders from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Congress (Congress), and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), including its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, visited the protest site. Farmer-union figures such as Balbir Singh Rajewal, Harinder Lakhowal, and Inderpal Bains also joined. In addition, the father of a jailed MP, family members of past radical figures, a former gangster-turned-activist known as Lakha Sidhana, a singer Satinder Sartaj, and many others made appearances on campus. During the protests, slogans like “Chandigarh Punjab da” and “Raj Karega Khalsa” were raised.