SOPU-INSO wins PU

Amit Bhatia,the presidential candidate of SOPU-INSO,is now Council chief. He defeated PUSU’s Arshbir Singh Johal by 670 votes. In all,Bhatia got 3,276 votes. Elected Joint Secretary,Gaurav got 2,985 votes and newly-elected Vice President Virender Boora got 2,945.

Sixty per cent of PU students had participated in the elections — 6,174 out of the total 11,210 had voted earlier in the day.

The winning combination was obviously the popular choice since all of them beat the nearest rivals by a minimum of over 500 votes.

This is the second consecutive victory for SOPU,which had come to power last year too — in alliance with the ABVP. Meanwhile,in 2007,INSO had won in a tie-up with PUSU.

There was a happy sense of fait accompli for the winning alliance after 2 pm when it became clear that PUSU — despite giving an early scare — would have to concede defeat. By the time the results were finally declared at half past four,the winning procession had begun its march on the campus.

Candidates of other parties,however,put up a poor show with none getting more than 1,000 votes. Ashwathy Rajan,the sole girl contesting for the presidential post from the ABVP-SOI alliance,got 336 votes. The only independent girl candidate,Meenu Gupta,who contested the post of vice president,bagged 368 in her kitty.

What changed the game?

It was a close enough competition in the early stages with both SOPU-INSO and PUSU running neck and neck. But several departments turned the tables.

These included UIET,BAMS,Arts Block III and UIAMS where the SOPU-INSO alliance was delivered a lead of 148,200,132 and 221 votes respectively. Most say the win came on the strength of this particular alliance,though till the last day leaders of both INSO and SOPU were unsure they would be able to ink a pact and pull it through.

The presidential candidate was from SOPU,while the general secretary and the vice president are INSO members. The parties agreed to have a neutral candidate for the post of joint secretary.