Once again, the big departments have their say

CHANDIGARH: As the hands of the clock in the Panjab University (PU) Gymnasium Hall moved forward, representatives of student groups that were falling behind waited for the ballot boxes from the traditional departments to be opened - hoping that would turn the tables in their favour, or at least decrease the margin of their losses. But that never happened.
Once again, the focal points of all election campaigns - the biggest departments on campus - showed that they still call the shots, and Students Organization of India (SOI) managed to break into these table-turners. The winning candidates from the SOI alliance have all scored with flying colours in departments like University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Laws, University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (UICET), and Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences (HSJIDS), to name the prominent ones.
At UICET, SOI's Jasmeen Kang bagged 238 votes, while the National Students Union of India (NSUI)'s presidential candidate Puneet Sharma got 139 votes. Panjab University Students Union (PUSU)'s Baljinder Singh got just 38 votes here.
UIET, which is the focus of all student organizations, gave Kang 510 votes out of its total 2,584 votes. Sharma and Singh respectively got 461 and 431 votes, despite it being the NSUI candidate's home department. At University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Kang got 349 votes, while Sharma and Singh got a respective total of 140 and 154.
However, in a few departments, NSUI maintained its hold, despite slipping to the third spot in the overall results. At University Institute of Applied Management and Sciences (UIAMS), Kang and Singh got just 91 and 50 votes respectively, while Sharma bagged 116 votes.
The science departments too seemed to have given the edge to Kang, who is a research scholar. PUSU, however, managed to stay at the second spot, with a lead in the smaller departments like Punjabi and Education, where most of its volunteer base has created a strong presence. Singh bagged 103 Chemistry votes, leaving behind Kang and Sharma with 89 and 35 votes respectively. In departments like Microbiology too, Singh (62) was ahead of Kang (40) and Sharma (8).
The SOI-alliance's candidate for the secretary post, Rishi Bhardwaj, also maintained a lead in these departments. He bagged 127 votes at UIAMS against PUSU-ABVP's Sukhjot Singh's 56; 206 in UICET, where NSUI-HSA's Yash Sura got 156; 592 in UIET against Singh's 360. At UILS, which is Sura's home department, he took the lead with 448 votes, while Bhardwaj got just 110.
VITAL STATS
Total voters in PU: 14,371
Total Votes Polled: 8,136
>>President
Department: Jasmeen Kang -- Puneet Sharma - Baljinder Singh
HSJIDS: 155-50-108
Laws: 239-185-140
Physics: 158-22-67
University Business School (UBS): 100-53-36
UIAMS: 91-116-50
UICET: 238-139-38
UIET: 510-461-431
UILS: 349-140-154