Thrissur: A dramatic late recount in the college union elections has withheld a historic change of guard in the Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur under Calicut University.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sreekuttan Sivadasan, a blind candidate representing the Kerala Students Union (KSU), affiliated to the Indian National Congress, was declared the Chairman of the college union, breaking a 41-year reign of the Students Federation of India (SFI).

Sreekuttan, a Political Science final-year student, secured 896 votes to edge SFI candidate Anirudhan by a single ballot. But soon after the result was declared, activists of the SFI, the students' wing of the CPM, demanded a recount.

After hours of uncertainty, the Cochin Devaswom Board that runs the college called for a recount. As per the latest update, the KSU leaders have walked out in protest while the recounting has begun.

Earlier, tense moments prevailed on the campus late into the night and a police team led by Thrissur City Assistant Commissioner had to intervene to keep the situation under control.

The SFI activists led by their district leaders demanded a recount while the KSU representatives protested claiming it was a ploy to overturn the election result with the support of the CPM-affiliated teachers association.

On the demand of SFI, a recount had been held earlier in the evening, but it was stopped after the KSU protested. The KSU leadership alleged that the Returning Officer, who is a leader of a pro-Left teachers' union, refused to stop the recount even after the college principal and the police demanded it. They also alleged that SFI activists threatened the teachers at the counting table.

Jose Vallur, president of the Thrissur District Congress Committee and Saneesh Kumar Joseph MLA came to the campus to congratulate Sreekuttan. But that was before the late recount was ordered. So for now, Sreekuttan's historic moment is put on hold.