The long-awaited elections to the Rajshahi University Central Students鈥� Union, hall unions and senate student representatives are going to be held today amid heightened security measures on the campus.
The elections are going to be held after 35 years, as the last such elections were held in 1990.
The chief election commissioner, Professor F Nazrul Islam, addressing a press briefing at the university鈥檚 senate building on Wednesday, said that they had completed all the preparations to hold the elections in a fair, peaceful and credible manner.
He said that the voting would begin at 9:00am and end at 4:00pm without any break.
He said that 28,901 voters are expected to exercise their voting rights at 17 polling centers set up at nine academic buildings, and 212 teachers were assigned as presiding and assistant presiding officers, and 91 officials as polling officers.
He said that transparent ballot boxes would be used in the polls, while the election processes would be shown live on the closed-circuit cameras to ensure accountability and transparency.
Professor Nazrul Islam said that after ending the voting hours, ballot boxes from all the polling centres would be transported to the Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium for counting, where Optical Mark Recognition machines would be used to count the ballots under the supervision of a technical panel.
He hoped that they would be able to complete the counting of ballots and announce the full results within 17 hours.
He said that 2,000 police personnel, 6 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh, and 12 platoons of Rapid Action Battalion personnel would be deployed on the campus to ensure security on Thursday.
Election commissioner Professor Mostafa Kamal said that they had taken adequate measures to prevent any kind of rigging in the elections.
The commissioner also said that a 43-member expert committee had been formed to prepare and verify the results.
He said that they had printed 28,901 ballot papers for 28,901 registered voters within the university departments that typically handle question printing, following an eight-step security protocol.
A total of 247 candidates will contest for 23 RUCSU posts, another 597 candidates are contesting in 17 residential hall union elections, while 58 candidates are vying for five senate representative positions.
Besides independent candidates, nine panels backed by different political students鈥� organisations, are vying in the elections.
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal-backed Oikyoboddho Notun Projonmo panel, Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed Sammilita Shikkharthi Oikyo panel, Chhatra Union (faction)-backed by Aparajeyo 71, Chhatra Odhikar Parishad and Chhatra Federation-backed RUCSU for Radical Change panel, Ganotantrik Chhatra Jote-backed Ganotantrik Shikkharthi Parishad, Islami Chhatra Andolan-backed Swacheton Shikkharthi Parishad, , United Students鈥� Democratic Forum-backed Sarbojanin Shikkharthi Sangsad, former Student Against Discrimination leaders-backed Adhipatyabirodhi Okya, and independent candidates-backed Satantra Shikkharthi Parishad fielded their candidates in the elections.
The RU administration formed a 10-member observation committee, headed by the university鈥檚 economics department retired professor and former vice-chancellor of Islamic University Kushtia, Professor Rafiqul Islam, to oversee the elections, according to an official circular issued by acting registrar Professor Iftikharul Alam Masud on Wednesday.
Chhatra Dal, in a press release Tuesday night, expelled the organisation鈥檚 RU unit sports secretary Mehedi Hasan from all organisational positions for life for 鈥榖reaching party discipline鈥�.
Maruf鈥檚 expulsion came days after he shared a Facebook post extending support for independent assistant general secretary candidate Shah Poran in the RUCSU elections.
The first constitution of the Rajshahi University Central Students鈥� Union was formulated in 1962. Following the July 2024 mass uprising, several amendments were made to meet the demands of the students.
In the last RUCSU elections in 1990, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, now the senior joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was elected vice-president and Ruhul Quddus Babu was elected general secretary.
