The long-awaited Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union, hall unions, and Senate student representative elections were held on Thursday amid allegations of violating electoral code of conduct by candidates and their supporters.
The voting that began at 9:00am at 17 polling centers set up at seven academic and two administrative buildings ended at 4:00pm with 20,187 out of the 28,909 registered voters casting their votes, said chief election commissioner Professor F Nazrul Islam.
He said that the elections were held in a very peaceful, credible, and impartial manner with a voter turnout of 69.83 per cent.
‘Students, teachers, and other stakeholders told us that they had never seen such fair, peaceful, and credible elections in their life,’ he added.
Till filing this report at 7:00pm, vote counting was under way. The results are expected to be announced on Friday noon, according to university officials.
From early morning, students were seen arriving at polling centres in high spirits to exercise their voting rights. Long queues formed in front of several centres as voters patiently waited for their turn.
After casting his vote at the Sher-e-Bangla Fazlul Haque polling centre, Imtiaz Hossain, a fresher from the Islamic Studies department, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that he was delighted to vote for the first time.
‘We want the university authorities to hold the RUCSU elections every year so that students can choose their chosen leaders,’ he said, expressing hope that the polls would end peacefully with cooperation from all parties.
Meanwhile, at a press conference on the day, candidates from both the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal-backed Oikyaboddho Notun Projonmo panel and the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed Sammilta Shikkharthi Jote panel accused each other of violating electoral code of conduct.
JCD-backed panel general secretary candidate Nafiul Islam Jibon said that voting at the Shahid Ziaur Rahman Hall polling centre was suspended for an hour after their agent reported that an assistant presiding officer had pre-signed at least 100 ballot papers in an attempt to manipulate voting.
‘We saw long queues in front of the Shahid Ziaur Rahman Hall and Matihar Hall polling centres. We fear that vote rigging took place at these two centres,’ Jibon said.
He further alleged that Rover Scout members who were deployed to assist voters inside the centres had sought votes for a specific candidate, violating the electoral code of conduct.
Jibon also claimed that Islami Chhatra Shibir activists tried to bring outsiders inside the campus to create unrest.
However, Shahid Ziaur Hall polling centre presiding officer Professor Mahbubor Rahman said that some ballot papers had been pre-signed to expedite the process.
‘However, voting at the centre never stopped – it only slowed down due to the allegation,’ he added.
At another press conference in front of the university’s central library in the afternoon, Sammilta Shikkharthi Jote’s GS candidate Fazle Rabbi Md Fahim Reza alleged that the JCD-backed Oikyaboddho Notun Projonmo panel had set up electoral booths near several polling centres in violation of election rules.
He also accused candidates from the Oikyaboddho Notun Projonmo panel and the Adhipatyabirodhi Okya panel, backed by former Students Against Discrimination leaders, of distributing hand slips to voters within 100 yards of polling centres.
Fazle Rabbi further alleged that several non-student JCD leaders and activists, including the organisation’s central organising secretary Amanullah Aman, were seen roaming around the campus, and that JCD men were spreading rumours against them on social media.
Meanwhile, a large number of local leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami had been seen gathering in areas adjacent to the
university’s main entrance, Kazla Gate, Binodpur Gate, Charukola Gate, and Station Bazar since morning.
In front of the RU main entrance, Jamaat activists were seen scattered across the field beside the main entrance, while BNP supporters stayed along the walkway on the Rajshahi–Dhaka highway that separates the campus from nearby localities.
The Rajshahi Metropolitan Police had earlier imposed a ban on any gathering within 200 yards of the RU campus.
Al Mamun Babu, the general secretary of the Motihar unit of Rajshahi metropolitan BNP, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that they had assembled near the campus to observe the polls.
‘The RUCSU elections are being held after a long gap. It is a festive occasion for us, so we have gathered here to observe and share the joy,’ he said.
Rokonuzzaman Alam, president of the Rajshahi Sramik Dal who was sitting with around one thousand leaders and activists in Station Bazar area, said that they sat there to have an eye on whether any election engineering was done.
JCD central organising secretary Amanullah Aman alleged in a Facebook post that Jamaat activists were distributing weapons among their men at the field near the campus ahead of the elections.
However, this correspondent found no such activity at the spot — only cooking equipment was seen there, and later the RMP in a Facebook post ruled out the allegation as a rumor.
A person named Liton, who introduced himself as a Jamaat activist and local businessman, was found supervising the cooking arrangements at the field.
‘Since the elections are being held near our area, around 400 of us have gathered here. As we plan to stay throughout the day, we have arranged the lunch for us,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Ekram Ali Litu, president of the Rajshahi metropolitan Jamaat’s Ward 4 unit, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that they had gathered there under the instruction of the party’s central leaders.
‘We are here so that none can do anything wrong forcibly,’ he said.
Meanwhile, at a press conference, Fuad Ratul, the VP candidate from the left-leaning organisations-backed Ganatantrik Shikkharthi Parishad, said that they feared that the BNP and the Jamaat’s men who were gatherings might cause an extra-pressure on the university authorities, resulting in a slow counting process or even election engineering.
A total of 247 candidates contested for the 23 RUCSU posts while another 597 candidates vied in 17 residential hall union elections, with 58 candidates competing for five senate representative positions.
Besides the independent candidates, nine panels backed by different political student organisations contested 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 Ganatantrik Shikkharthi Parishad, Islami Chhatra Andolan-backed Swacheton Shikkharthi Parishad, United Students’ 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 prominent VP candidates include Shibir’s Mostakur Rahman Jahid, JCD’s Sheikh Nur Uddin Abir, former SAD leader Mehedi Sajib, and Chhatra Odhikar Parishad and Chhatra Federation-backed Mehedi Maruf.
The GS candidates include former SAD leader Salahuddin Ammar, JCD’s Nafiul Islam Jibon, and Shibir’s Fazle Rabbi Md Fahim Reza, while the AGS aspirants include JCD’s Jahin Biswas Esha, Shibir’s Salman Sabbir, and independent candidate Shah Poran.
The last RUCSU elections were held in 1990, when Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, now the senior joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was elected the vice-president and Ruhul Quddus Babu the general secretary.