The campaigning for the long-awaited Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union and hall union elections ended Tuesday night.
The elections, scheduled for Thursday, will be held after 33 years and the students are preparing to exercise their voting rights to elect their representatives for 25 posts of the JUCSU and 15 posts of each of the 21 hall unions.
Chief election commissioner Professor Md Moniruzzaman said that all campaigning activities, including processions, rallies, and distributing leaflets, ended at midnight past Tuesday.
‘We are fully prepared to hold a free, fair, and peaceful election’, he told reporters.
Over the past two weeks, the university campus witnessed electioneering in a festive mood with eight panels and a number of independent candidates, vying for leadership, promising to free the campus from repression, improve transport facilities and strengthen student representation in decision-making.
They also promised to ensure more cultural programs and food price monitoring in dining halls.
A total of 179 contestants are vying for JUCSU posts, while 252 are in the race for hall union positions.
The panels that are on the race include Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed Somannito Shikkharthi Jote, Bangladesh Ganotantrik Chhatra Sangsad-backed Shikkharthi Oiyka Forum, and Gano Abhyuthan Rokkha Andolon-backed Sotontro Shikkharthi Jote.
Besides, leftist organisations have fielded two panels – the Sampritir Oikya and the Shikkharthi Oikko Forum.
During the electioneering, the panels and independent candidates sought to woo nearly 12,000 voters.
Sheikh Sadi from JCD, Arifuzzaman Uzzal from Shikkharthi Oiyka Forum, Arifullah Adeeb from Somannito Shikkharthi Jote, Abdur Rasid Jitu from Sotontro Shikkharthi Jote are among the 10 vice-president candidates.
Independent candidates, including national football player Mahmudul Hasan Kiron, who is running for sports secretary, also gained traction.
Some candidates, however, alleged irregularities in preparing the voter list and claimed attempts to disqualify rivals.
Sampritir Oikya panel’s vice-president aspirant Amartya Ray John had his nomination reinstated after a High Court order that called the JU authorities’ cancellation of his candidacy ‘intentional’.
However, the Appellate Division on Tuesday stayed the High Court order that had allowed Amartya to contest in the JUCSU elections.
Chamber judge Md Rezaul Haque passed the stay order in response to a petition filed by lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir, on behalf of Jahangirnagar University, shortly after the High Court’s ruling.
On Tuesday, a vacation High Court bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Biswajit Debnath had the JUCSU Election Commission’s decision of cancelling Amartya’s candidacy.
The Election Commission had disqualified Amartya, citing that he had been a student for more than eight years and, therefore, was no longer a regular student, as required under the JUCSU constitution.
The High Court also issued a rule, asking the university and the election commission to explain why Amartya’s exclusion from the voter list and rejection of his nomination should not be declared illegal.
The order came after a writ petition filed by Amartya on Sunday, challenging the legality of a notification issued by the JUCSU chief election commissioner, cancelling his nomination and excluding his name from the voter list.
Amartya’s lawyer, Monjur Al Matin, argued that his client was still a regular student, as the university had previously allowed him to appear in examinations following an earlier High Court directive.
Amartya had earlier been banned by the university for allegedly removing graffiti of the country’s founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Ahead of Thursday’s elections, the university authorities and law enforcement agencies have rolled out a comprehensive security plan.
At a briefing at the university’s senate building, the election commission said that at least 1,200 police officers would be deployed on the election day.
‘We are still hoping to have the Bangladesh Armed Forces deployed as a striking force, as JU’s campus is far from the capital and some boundaries remain exposed to outsiders’, proctor Rashidul Alam said.
The university administration on Monday issued restrictions on campus movement during the polls. All resident students must remain inside their halls from 1:00pm on September 11 until the close of polling, while outsiders will be barred from entering the dormitories.
Journalists may cover the polls only with prior approval and valid identification, while vehicle movement on the campus will be restricted.
University transport services, including buses, will remain suspended during the polling hours.
The university’s 21 residential halls together account for 315 positions, 15 in each of the hall unions.
Of them, 102 candidates face no rivals and will be officially declared elected, while no nominations were filed for 63 seats, leaving only 150 positions to be contested on the election day.
The number of voters in the election is 11,919, including 6,102 males and 5,817 females.
