Overview
- The Centre’s order sets a 31‑member Senate with 18 elected, six nominated and seven ex officio seats, abolishing the Graduate constituency for the first time in 59 years.
- Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the state will move the high court or Supreme Court, arguing the Panjab University Act, 1947 cannot be changed by notification.
- New ex officio seats include the Chandigarh MP, the UT Chief Secretary and the Education Secretary, altering the balance between elected academic voices and administrators.
- The Union government cites a 2021 committee led by then Chancellor M. Venkaiah Naidu, whose 2022 report was approved by Vice‑President C. P. Radhakrishnan in September 2025.
- AAP, Congress and SAD leaders condemned the move as undermining Punjab’s rights as student protests and diaspora criticism grew, while Punjab BJP said it will consult stakeholders to protect the state’s stake.