In a significant political development ahead of next year’s Punjab Assembly elections, the Student Organisation of India (SOI), the student wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has extended its support to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) elections.Student unity. One strong mandate. One shared vision.SOI has extended its unconditional support to ABVP’s presidential candidate Ankit Bidhan in the Punjab University Students’ Council elections.Following the rejection of SOI’s candidate’s nomination this year, SOI has chosen… pic.twitter.com/miVFhcB457— ABVP (@ABVPVoice) August 30, 2026According to an official ABVP post, the alliance between the two student organisations was announced on Jattvibeday, a day before polling for the PUCSC elections was scheduled to begin at 9:30 am on Monday.The alliance follows the rejection of the nomination papers of the SOI candidate, preventing the organisation from contesting the elections directly. With SOI out of the contest, its vote base and organisational support are expected to back the ABVP alliance.As per the election schedule, polling in the respective departments will be followed by the collection of ballot boxes for office-bearer posts from the Returning Officer on the ground floor of each concerned block from 11 am onwards. The boxes will be transported to the Gymnasium Hall by DSW staff and wardens.Results for Departmental Representatives (DRs) will be displayed in the respective departments from 12 pm, while counting of votes and declaration of results for the office-bearer posts will take place simultaneously at the Gymnasium Hall.Security has also been tightened across the Panjab University campus. Strict checks are being conducted at all three entry gates amid concerns over the movement of outsiders. Security personnel have been deployed at key locations, while vehicles and visitors entering the campus are being checked to maintain law and order during the election process.The coming together of the SAD’s student wing and the ABVP comes days after senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia told ANI on August 21 that people in Punjab wanted the SAD and BJP to come together.Majithia had cited Punjab’s status as a border state and the need to maintain social harmony while making the case for the former allies to reunite.”We should understand that the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP have worked together. Vajpayee ji and Badal ji strengthened this alliance, and it continued during Modi ji’s time,” Majithia said.The SAD and BJP ended their alliance in 2020 after the Akali Dal withdrew from the BJP-led NDA over the Centre’s farm laws.Referring to the prevailing situation in Punjab, Majithia said the state’s position as a border state, along with concerns over social harmony and its social fabric, had led people to favour a reunion between the two parties.”We had gone our separate ways over the farm laws. But considering Punjab’s situation as a border state, social harmony and the social fabric, people want the two parties to come together,” he said.ANI inputs