Chandigarh, Sept. 3 -- After days of hectic poll activity and spirited campaigns, the V-Day is finally here when over 16,000 students will exercise their franchise and pick the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) on Wednesday. Polling will start at 9.30 am and culminate at 11am, while the results will be declared by evening. Polling to elect 130 department representatives (DRs) will take place simultaneously with the PUCSC elections. There are eight candidates in fray for the president's seat, five each for the vice-president and general secretary's post and four vying for the joint secretary's seat. This time, there are three women contending for the top spot. Last year, Anurag Dalal had ditched the National Students Union of India (NSUI) to contest independently and bag the president's post. This year, Sumit Sharma of MA Geography has followed suit, quitting the NSUI mid-election after failing to get a ticket to the top spot. He is now contesting from the Students Front (SF) with the support of Himachal Students Union (HIMSU), Naveen Kumar of ABVP Front for vice-president, a breakaway faction of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Abhishek Dagar of the Jashan Jawandha faction of Students of Panjab University (SOPU) and Sidharth Boora of the breakaway faction of Panjab University Students Union (PUSU). With Anurag Dalal back in their fold, NSUI is looking to defend their ground. They have fielded Parabhjot Singh Gill of the Department of Laws. He was picked for the race after he independently won the post of class representative in his first year and was elected DR in the second year. The party is in an alliance with Mohit Manderana, an independent candidate with the backing of former NSUI Chandigarh president Sikander Boora. NSUI's Jatinder Singh had won the post in 2023. In 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) student wing had made its debut on campus as the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), with its candidate Ayush Khatkar winning the top position. This time, the party has come back with a new name - Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), hoping to regain the lost ground. It had finished second in the presidential race in the last two elections. This time, it is going with Gaurav Veer Sohal, who has emerged a strong contender in the race. ASAP has announced their alliance with University Student Organisation (USO), Himachal Pradesh Students Union (HPSU) and Panjab University Students Union. ABVP has formed an alliance with Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), a breakaway faction of NSUI and Indian National Students Organisation. SOPU party's presidential candidate Ardas Kaur is in alliance with Hindustan Students Association. With multiple alliances at play and multiple candidates fighting from the Big 3s- the departments with the most number of voters - there appear to be no clear favourite in this year's race. University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) has the most number of voters at 2,535 followed by University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) with 1,921 votes and the Department of Laws at 1,094. PU authorities, meanwhile, said that they are all set for the polls. Dean Students Welfare (DSW) Amit Chauhan said that over 100 teachers will be on election duty on Wednesday. This time, the digital counting board used at the Gymnasium Hall for counting will be switched off around an hour before the final result is declared, to make the result declaration more dramatic. Further, PU authorities will also stop vehicles without stickers for checking. Over 400 students have already got the stickers on their vehicles. Rain may play spoilsport for day scholars, however, authorities say that this time only a few hostel students have gone home, owing to the floods in the region....