Campaigning for the upcoming Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union (Rucsu) election concludes at midnight on Tuesday, with the Election Commission declaring that all preparations are nearly complete.
Booth installation is currently underway across 17 centres in nine academic buildings, with 100 CCTV cameras deployed to monitor the overall security situation.
According to the Rucsu Election Commission office, 247 candidates are contesting for 23 central posts. Among them, 18 are running for the Vice President (VP) post, 13 for General Secretary (GS), and 16 for Assistant General Secretary (AGS).
A total of 11 panels, including those backed by Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir, have been officially announced.
In the Senate student representative election, 58 candidates are contesting for 5 positions, while in the hall union elections, 597 candidates are vying for 15 posts across 17 halls.
The total number of registered voters for both the Rucsu and senate elections stands at 28,901, of which 11,305 are female and 17,596 male.
Election day and voting details
According to the revised schedule, voting will be held on Thursday (16 October) from 9am to 4pm, with results expected to be announced later that evening after counting concludes.
The booths have been constructed in different academic building across the campus and CCTV cameras have been installed for security inside the booths.
Rucsu Chief Election Commissioner Professor F Nazrul Islam said, “We are in the final stage of our election preparations. Booth installation is ongoing. Due to ongoing classes and exams, booths in only two buildings were set up yesterday. We aim to finish setting up all booths between this afternoon and tomorrow evening.”
He further explained the voting process, “Each of the 17 centres will have six colour-coded ballot boxes. Voters must cast their ballots on six different papers, then place each into its designated colour box. Ballot boxes will be locked at 8:30am, in the presence of journalists and candidates. Voting will officially begin at 9am.”
Presiding officers will bring in any remaining voters just before the 4pm cutoff. No one will be allowed into the centres after that time.
Each student will cast a total of 43 votes , of those 5 for the Senate, 23 for Rucsu posts, and 15 for hall union representatives. There will be 990 booths in operation, and a total of 94 tables used in the voting process.
Votes will be counted using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines, with the entire process broadcast live on a giant screen outside the Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium to ensure transparency.
Besides, a high-level coordination meeting was held at the Rajshahi University conference hall on Monday, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Saleh Hassan Naquib, to discuss measures for the smooth conduct of the upcoming Rucsu elections.
Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Commissioner Muhammad Abu Sufian announced that a three-tier security system will be in place during the Rucsu elections. A total of 2,000 police personnel, 12 platoons of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be deployed across the Rajshahi University campus from 15 to 17 October. Both RAB and BGB will establish temporary camps on campus to maintain law and order throughout the polling period.
Pro Vice-Chancellors Prof Dr Mayeen Uddin and Prof Dr Farid Uddin Khan, Students’ Adviser Prof Dr Amirul Islam, and Chief Election Commissioner Prof Dr F Nazrul Islam, Additional Commissioner Nazmul Hassan, BGB Commanding Officer Lt Col Hasibul Haque, and RAB-5 Senior ASP Salman Farsi were also present at the meeting
Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Saleh Hassan Naquib highlighted that the Rucsu election is taking place after a long gap of 35 years. “We are organising this poll after breaking a longstanding deadlock and overcoming numerous challenges,” he said.
Expressing optimism, Prof Naquib added that the university administration and students are eagerly anticipating the election and hoped that a level playing field would be maintained throughout the process.
