Waxing eloquent about his connections with the land of five rivers, the V-C said he belonged to the family of the first of the Panj Piaras, Bhai Daya Ram Sobti. “My birth place is Tarn Taran. Only a person born on the soil of Punjab can know what is best for the people here. Sohan Singh Bhakhna, the great freedom fighter, hailed from my maternal village. We can do what no other university in Punjab can,” Sobti said in chaste Punjabi.

What Sobti said concluding his speech on Monday is one of the many ways in which the V-C likes to flaunt his Punjabiyat. Not to mention the various Punjab politicians who are invited for functions in the varsity.

The past few months have seen almost all Punjab ministers in the campus. Be it Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur, Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla, or Minister for Cooperatives Captain Kanwaljit Singh, all have graced the varsity for one event or the other.

In fact, the Punjab Cabinet was represented quite well at the recent PU convocation. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, as well as the newly-crowned SAD president Sukhbir Badal, have also visited the campus on more than one occasion.

The V-C is at his Punjabi best during these visits. “Panjab University Panjab di hai te Punjab di rahegi. Je kise ne is da na badlan di koshish keeti asi lambe pe javange, par eh nahin hon davange (PU belongs to Punjab. If anyone dares to change its name we will make any number of sacrifices, but we will not let this happen),” the V-C had said while addressing the gathering when Captain Kanwaljit was visiting the varsity.

This was the V-C’s oblique answer to the demand for granting PU the status of a Central University. Sobti had assured that the affiliated colleges in Punjab would not be affected if and when the varsity gets Central status.

The V-C has also been harping on the fact that the majority of the senators belong to Punjab so the government should not worry about lack of representation. The Punjab Government, on its part, has been quick to shower funds on the varsity, but only in the state. It gifted Rs 1 crore and 10 acres to the Muktsar campus. Another Rs 5.5 crore was given for development of an institute at Kauni. That the state government has refused refused to release its share of grant to PU, around Rs 16 crore, i another matter altogether.