The student panel supported by Islami Chhatra Shibir, ‘Oikkoboddho Shikkharthi Jote,’ secured a significant victory in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections. The panel’s candidates clinched top positions, with Sadik Kayem elected as Vice President (VP), SM Forhad Hossain as General Secretary (GS), and Mohiuddin Uddin Khan as Assistant General Secretary (AGS).
The election results were announced on Wednesday, 10 September morning in the Nawab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building, following the conclusion of the voting process on Tuesday, 9 September.
Sadik Kayem, representing the Shibir-backed panel, won the VP position with 14,062 votes, leaving his closest competitor, Abidul Islam Khan from the Chhatra Dal panel, with 5,718 votes.
In the GS race, SM Forhad Hossain garnered 13,243 votes to emerge victorious, while Meghmallar Basu from the Protirodh Porishod panel received 6,964 votes. The AGS position saw Mohammad Mohiuddin Uddin Khan securing 11,772 votes, defeating Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed, the Chhatra Dal candidate, who received 5,064 votes.
The election, which began with festive enthusiasm, gradually became embroiled in controversy as accusations of vote manipulation emerged. Several candidates leveled serious allegations against each other, and some even pointed fingers at the administration’s inaction, accusing it of aiding the Shibir’s agenda.
After the voting concluded at 4 pm on Tuesday, candidates from the Chhatra Dal and the Democratic Students’ Union (BAGCHAS) panels raised concerns during press briefings about alleged irregularities in the voting process. The Chhatra Dal panel even met with the Vice-Chancellor to lodge formal complaints.
As the election results were delayed well into the night, the Election Commission cited technical errors in the vote counting machines as the reason for the delay. They assured that the results would be declared by midnight, but this promise was not fulfilled. As midnight passed, tensions heightened, and the delay in declaring the results added to the growing sense of frustration among the students and candidates.
By morning, when the results were finally announced, the Shibir-backed panel’s landslide victory had become inevitable. As the final tally confirmed the victory, candidates from opposing panels, including Abidul Islam Khan and Umama Fatema, announced their rejection of the results, citing widespread electoral fraud.
Students who had initially hoped for a smooth and democratic election were left disillusioned by the lengthy delay and the rising tide of allegations. As the results were declared, voter confidence in the electoral process seemed to have diminished. Many expressed their frustration, stating that the election, which had started with so much promise, had ended up setting an undesirable precedent.
