However, the students’ wing of the BJP, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), bagged the post of the president.

Ashish Sinha, a student of Patna Law College and son of Kumhrar BJP MLA, Arun Kumar Sinha, was elected the union president defeating his nearest rival Divya Gautam of All India Students’ Association (AISA). Divya is a student of Patna College and lost by 168 votes. Ashish got 1,896 votes. There were 15 contestants in the fray for the post.

The elections were held on Dec 11 after 28 long years.

AISF’s Kumar Anshuman, a PG student of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology Department, trounced his nearest rival Abhishek Kumar of ABVP, to be elected as the Vice President. Abhishek is a student of Patna College and lost by 79 votes. Anshuman secured 1,463 votes. There were 12 students contesting for the post.

AISF’s Anshu Kumari, a PG student of Applied Economics and Commerce, was elected general secretary. She defeated her nearest rival Chhatra RJD’s Saif Danish Karim of Patna College by 960 votes. Anshu secured 2,203 votes. There were 12 contestants for this post.

Chhatra Janata Dal United’s Anupriya, a student of Magadh Mahila College, defeated her nearest rival AISA’s Prachi Raj of Patna Women’s College by 600 votes to bag the post of secretary. There were 13 candidates in the fray. Anupriya got 1,865 votes.

Chhatra RJD’s Abhishek Gupta, a student of Patna College, was elected treasurer. His nearest rival was his college mate Sanjeev Kumar who contested the election as an independent candidate. While Abhishek bagged 1,504 votes, Sanjeev polled 1,112 votes.

Those elected to the PUSU executive committee from different constituencies are Amrita Sinha and Nancy (Patna Women’s College), Anushka Arya and Pallavi (Magadh Mahila College), Amrikesh Kumar Gulshan and Nikhil Chakrabarty (B N College), Abhishek Kumar and Kumar Abhishek (Patna Science College), Ritwik Raj and Vijay Kumar Yadav (Patna College), Rakesh Kumar (College of Arts and Crafts), Priyanka Sinha (Women’s Training College), Deep Narayan Kumar (Patna Training College), Puja Kumari (Vanijya Mahavidyalaya), Himanshu Kumar Yadav (Patna Law College), Ravi Kumar (faculty of science), Ram Kumar Singh (Faculty of Social Science), Ramesh Kumar (Faculty of Humanities), and Vidyanand Kumar (Faculties of Commerce, Education and Law).

There were altogether 18,000-odd voters of whom around 50% turned out to exercise their franchise. At 58 booths.

Meanwhile, the office-bearers of the newly elected Patna University Students’ Union (Pusu) will take oath of secrecy next week.

Registrar of the university V K Yadav said according to the Patna University Act, either the president or the general secretary or both will be members of the University Senate. During the Senate meetings they can raise different issues.

The AISF has emergd as a big winner as its backed candidates clinched the posts of the vice-president and the general secretary. Besides, out of the 19 executive posts of college representatives, the AISF-backed candidates bagged six posts, including one each at Patna Women’s College and Magadh Mahila College.

On the other hand, ABVP-backed candidates secured four posts. Apart from the president’s seat, the ABVP-backed candidates bagged the executive posts at Patna Women’s College, Magadh Mahila College and Vanijya Mahavidyalaya.

However, AISA received the biggest setback this election. Its members, who fought hard to get the students’ union election on track after a gap of 28 years, failed to open an account.

The face of the party and the presidential candidate, Divya Gautam, was considered a top contender for the coveted post. She got 1,728 votes but lost to high-profile Ashish Sinha.

Reports said low turnout of voters, especially at women’s colleges and too many girl candidates for the president’s post were some of the reasons behind Gautam’s loss.

The JD(U)-backed candidates, who were opposing the students’ union election that followed the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, had to settle with one central panel post.

The RJD students’ wing, got one member to the central panel.

Not a single candidate supported by the NSUI, students’ wing of the NCP and the LJP won in the election.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar congratulated the students of Patna University and the winning candidates after the election results were declared. He said the successful election would help the students of the university gain knowledge.