Chhatra Dal-backed vice-president candidate for the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union elections, Abidul Islam Khan, on Tuesday evening alleged widespread rigging in the polls.
‘Ballots were found in boxes that had earlier been declared empty. The scale of rigging in the DUCSU elections surpassed even the levels seen in Sheikh Hasina-led rigged elections,’ Abidul claimed at the DU campus.
Bin Yeamin Mollah, the vice-president candidate backed by Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, also questioned the official announcement of a 78.33 per cent voter turnout in Tuesday’s elections.
Speaking to journalists after the polls, he argued that the figure meant around 30,000 of 39,000 registered voters cast their ballots, which he called ‘a false statement’.
‘Polling officers, some of whom were loyal to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, may have rigged the polls to inflate voter turnout,’ Bin Yeamin alleged.
In a separate press briefing, Meghmallar Basu, general secretary candidate from the Pratirodh Parishad panel, also alleged that irregularities and rigging were visible throughout the DUCSU elections.
Zabir Ahmed Zubel, assistant general secretary candidate from the same panel, accused the DU administration of manipulating results to favour certain candidates.
