Chandigarh: Panjab University will deploy over 1,500 employees and spend more than Rs 2 crore on polling for the Registered Graduates’ constituency of the Senate on Sept 20.The university has made arrangements for 281 polling booths across its electoral network, nine more than the 272 booths used for the 2021 election. The increase reflects the scale of an election covering registered graduates spread across Punjab and other states and UTs.Registrar and returning officer Prof Y P Verma confirmed the staff deployment and expenditure details.Ludhiana will have the largest concentration of booths, with 52 polling stations, unchanged from the 2021 election, while Chandigarh will have 33. The revised 2026 list covers polling locations across Punjab and several other states and UTs.For voters living outside the university’s regular geographical network, however, the polling arrangements have been modified. PU cannot practically establish polling booths at all distant locations this time and has therefore designated Delhi as the polling point for voters from outside the regular geographical network, Verma said.The extensive arrangements come against the backdrop of a prolonged vacancy in the elected Senate. The previous 91-member elected body completed its four-year term on Oct 31, 2024, leaving the university without an elected Senate for nearly two years. The Registered Graduates’ constituency is holding its first Senate election in five years.The delay had triggered sustained agitation on campus. A 96-day protest was held in Oct 2024 to demand Senate elections. In 2025, the Centre’s proposed restructuring of the Senate and Syndicate sparked another 26-day agitation. The restructuring proposal was subsequently withdrawn, and the election process moved ahead after approval of the schedule in Nov 2025.With the election covering 281 polling booths and requiring more than 1,500 employees, the Sept 20 exercise is expected to be a major administrative undertaking for the university, with projected expenditure of over Rs 2 crore.BOX | Senate polls by numbers281 — Total polling booths in 2026272 — Polling booths in 20219 — Increase in booths52 — Booths in Ludhiana33 — Booths in Chandigarh1,500+ — PU employees to be deployedRs 2 crore+ — Expected election expenditureSept 20 — Polling day
