Candidates backed by the Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir pulled off a stunning victory on Tuesday, defeating their nearest rivals by a huge margin in key posts of the long-awaited Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections, held after a seven-year hiatus.
Shibir-supported Oikkoboddho Shikkharthi Jote panel’s vice-president (VP) candidate Abu Shadik Kayem secured 14,042 votes, while his closest rival, Md Abidul Islam Khan, VP candidate backed by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, trailed with 5,708 votes.
For the post of general secretary (GS), Shibir’s SM Farhad got 10,794 votes, while Chhatra Dal’s Shaikh Tanvir Baree Hamim got 5,283 votes.
For the post of assistant general secretary (AGS), Shibir-nominated Muhammad Mohiuddin Khan bagged 11,772 votes, while Chhatra Dal’s Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed got 5,064 votes.
The 38th DUCSU polls were conducted in a peaceful and festive atmosphere but were marred by allegations of irregularities, disputes over rejected results, slow counting, and delays in publishing tallies.
Voting began at 8am across eight centres, continuing until 4pm at 810 booths. Out of 39,775 students from 18 halls, unofficial reports indicated a turnout of 78.33%.
DUCSU election Chief Returning Officer Prof Mohammad Zashim Uddin started announcing the official results at the Senate Building around 8:25am on Wednesday, more than 16 hours after the conclusion of the voting.
Following the polls, Shadik Kayem thanked students for exercising their franchise and urged rival candidates to accept the outcome.
By contrast, Abidul Islam vehemently rejected the results. Writing on Facebook, he said, “I anticipated this manipulated result shortly after noon. Adjust the numbers as you wish. I reject this orchestrated farce.”
Independent Student Alliance’s VP candidate Umama Fatema also refused to accept the results, accusing Dhaka University authorities of partisan behaviour.
“Boycott! Boycott! We have rejected DUCSU. A completely sham election marred by blatant rigging. After 5 August, the Dhaka University administration has once again brought shame to the nation – an administration run by Shibir,” she wrote on Facebook.
After the balloting ended on Tuesday afternoon, tensions erupted among panel candidates and their supporters over the manipulation of votes.
With the passage of time, leaders and activists, particularly of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, took positions outside the university entrances and other places in the capital, raising fears of clashes.
Members of law enforcement agencies, however, were ready to tackle any untoward incident.
In another development, three advisers of the interim government held talks with leaders of the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami to defuse tensions over the results of the DUCSU and hall union elections.
In addition, a special assistant to the chief adviser and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police chief spoke with the leaders of the two parties.
Leaders of both parties assured the government that they would avoid clashes and conveyed the message to their leaders and activists.
Altogether, 471 candidates contested 28 DUCSU posts, with more than 1,000 others vying for 234 hall union seats. At least 10 panels competed alongside numerous independents in the landmark polls.
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