Chandigarh: After suffering its worst-ever performance in the Panjab University student council elections last year, the Aam Aadmi Party is seeking a comeback on campus ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly polls, with its student outfit Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) again fielding a Punjab face for the presidency and an MP and MLA appointed to steer its campaign.ASAP on Thursday announced Aadil Brar, a BA LLB student of the University Institute of Legal Studies, as its presidential candidate for the 2026 Panjab University Campus Students’ Council elections. AAP MP Meet Hayer and MLA Amritpal Singh Sukhanand have been appointed as election in-charges, bringing the party’s elected Punjab leadership into the PU poll exercise.The renewed push comes after ASAP’s vote share and position fell sharply last year. Its candidate Mankirat Maan, the organisation’s first Punjab-based presidential candidate, polled 1,184 votes and finished third, its lowest tally and worst position in four attempts at the PU polls.ASAP, earlier known as the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), had a strong start on campus. Haryana’s Ayush Khatkar won the presidential election in 2022 with 2,712 votes. In 2023, Himachal Pradesh’s Divyansh Thakur finished second with 2,399 votes, while Haryana’s Prince Chaudhary again finished second in 2024 with 3,130 votes.The organisation turned to a Punjab face for the first time last year, but Maan’s result marked a steep reversal. Brar is now the second consecutive Punjab-based presidential candidate to be fielded by ASAP.The outfit will, however, once again restrict its contest to the presidential post. Last year was the first and only occasion when ASAP fielded candidates for two posts.Brar, pursuing the five-year BA LLB programme at UILS, was elected a Department Representative in 2024-25. ASAP said he was the youngest DR that year and secured the highest vote margin.The entry of Hayer and Sukhanand as election in-charges also gives the contest a wider political backdrop, with the Punjab assembly elections due next year and AAP looking to rebuild its student-level presence on the PU campus.
