Chandigarh, Nov. 22 -- A majority of Panjab University Campus Students' Council (PUCSC) members have opposed the Panjab University Bachao Morcha's call for a bandh on November 26. The stance emerged during a meeting held with all three deans of student welfare (DSWs) -- DSW Amit Chauhan, associate DSW and DSW (Women) -- attended by PUCSC president Gauravveer Sohal, general secretary Abhishek Dagar and joint secretary Mohit Manderana. PUCSC vice-president Ashmeet Singh, who belongs to the SATH party and is an active leader of the PU BachaoMorcha, did not attend the meeting. Two key issues linked to the ongoing tensions over the pending senate election schedule were discussed in the meeting, including whether the council supports the Morcha's call for a bandh on November 26 and whether the upcoming examinations should be postponed in light of the situation. The Morcha, in its November 20 meeting with farmer unions and other civil groups, had announced the bandh call on the lines of the November 10 shutdown, when nearly 5,000 protesters, mainly from across Punjab, had marched through campus. Prior to that, protesters had declared a boycott of the end-semester exams, earlier scheduled to begin on November 18. Following this, varsity authorities had deferred the examinations to November 20. In Thursday's meeting, the majority of attendees, including the president, joint secretary, and four out of five executive DRs, voted against both the November 26 bandh call and any further postponement of exams. PUCSC president Sohal said that even if protesters decide to go ahead with their plan, examinations "must not be tampered with" and should be conducted without disruption. General secretary Abhishek Daggar, who earlier sat on a seven-day hunger strike against the anti-protest affidavit, was the only council member who voted in favour of the Morcha's shutdown call and postponing exams. "I have nothing against the exams or the students appearing for them," said Daggar. "But our fight for the senate elections has dragged on for far too long and the authorities have left us with no other option but to support the shutdown." DSW Chauhan said the council's majority view has been forwarded to the dean university instructions (DUI). "I have called for an all-party meeting on Saturday, to inform them of the student council's decision and discuss the further course of action," he added. In line with the council's decision, vice-chancellor Renu Vig said, "If the elected representatives have decided that the exams should not be postponed, then we're not looking to do anything like thateither." University officials said they do not expect the November 26 shutdown call to draw crowds on the scale of the November 10 protest. On Friday, registrar YP Verma and secretary to the vice-chancellor Krishna Kumar Saluja met officials from the Ministry of Education in Delhi. According to university officials, the Ministry had raised several queries related to the senate's functioning, including issues around graduate constituencies, faculty constituencies and the election framework of constituent colleges. After PU officials addressed these concerns, the Ministry conveyed that the senate election schedule would now be forwarded to senior officials for final approval. While no timeline has been provided for when this approval may come, the PU Bachao Morcha has said it will continue with its call for a PU bandh on November 26....