Vote counting for the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) and hall union elections held amid widespread allegations of rigging is underway.
According to Election Commission Secretary Professor Rashidul Alam, it may take until Friday afternoon to announce the election results.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday evening, he said, “The votes will be counted manually, so it may take until tomorrow morning or afternoon to finalize the results.”
Earlier, two hours before voting concluded, Tanzila Hossain Boishakhi, general secretary candidate backed by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, declared a boycott of the election, citing massive irregularities in the polls.
On the other hand, Arif Ullah Adib, the vice-president candidate from the “Integrated Student Alliance” panel, supported by Islami Chhatra Shibir, rejected the allegations, stating, “Chhatra Dal decided to boycott because they knew they were going to lose.”
Not just Chhatra Dal, but several other groups also expressed their discontent with the election process.
Several panels – “Sampreetir Oikya”, “Shangshaptak Parishad”, “Swadhin Ongiikar Parishad”, and the Socialist Students’ Front, in alliance with others, called for a boycott of the elections.
They also demanded a re-election, accusing widespread irregularities. Some independent candidates also joined in their protests.
“Sampreetir Oikya,” backed by a faction of the Student Union, also expressed opposition to the election.
Voting took place from 9am to 5pm with a total of 11,747 voters set to cast votes for 178 candidates. The positions contested included nine candidates for vice-president (VP), nine for general secretary (GS), six for joint secretary (Female), and ten for joint secretary (Male).
The elections were held across 224 booths in 21 university halls, including 10 female halls and 11 male halls. Each center was managed by a returning officer, with 67 polling officers and 67 assistant polling officers.
In total, voters cast ballots across 40 different ballot papers for central and hall elections. Approximately 1,200 police officers were deployed to ensure security.
