In a political earthquake that has been rumbling underneath the surface of post-Uprising Bangladesh, the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed panel’s candidates look set to sweep all the top posts in this year’s DUCSU election, with its Vice President (VP) candidate Shadik Kayem in particular opening up a commanding lead in the overnight vote count.
Voting was held Tuesday in a festive atmosphere across campus for the Dhaka University Central Students Union. Turnout clocked a dizzying 78.3% in the end, of the 39,000-strong electorate. The entire campaign period too was notably free of any violence or untoward incidents, except some instances of mostly online harassment.
With 5 of the 8 centres covering 18 halls reporting their results till 5am Wednesday, Shadik had racked up an impressive 7,516 votes.
His nearest rival, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal-backed panel’s Abidul Islam Khan, popularly known as Abid, trailed far behind on just 3,653 votes.
With three centres left to report their results, it leaves Abid with a statistical mountain to climb, if he is to overhaul Shadik, that hardly looks likely. Shadik has so far handily beaten Aid in every single hall that has announced its results, except Jagannath Hall, DU’s only dedicated hall for students from minority backgrounds. That includes two women’s halls - Begum Rokeya Hall and Poet Sufia Kamal Hall - where Shadik scored big, unexpected wins.
Among others in the VP race, Umama Fatema, arguably the most well-known face from last year’s Uprising among all the candidates, garnered 2,355 standing from an independent panel, while independent candidate Shamim Hossain, who tended to attract the more liberal voters, tallied 2,409.
The five polling centres included in the count so far were Curzon Hall, Physical Education Center, TSC, Geology Department Center, and University Laboratory School and College.
The remaining three centres from which results were still pending are the Senate Building, Udayan School and College, and Dhaka University Club.
The Shibir-backed panel's candidates for General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary, S.M. Farhad and Mohiuddin Khan respectively, also worked up handy leads that are unlikely to be eclipsed in the results from the remaining three centres.
JCD's Abid secures big win in Jagannath Hall
It remains to be seen whether JCD will concede the election. Abid, and his senior leaders in JCD started complaining about irregularities in the counting process last evening, and in a Facebook post around 2:30am (Wednesday morning), he wrote, “I guessed this result right after noon. Just put numbers as you like. I reject this staged drama.”
In contrast, his panel's GS candidate, Sheikh Tanvir Bari Hamim, seemed to gracefully accept the result, even as he referred to some irregularities.
In a status on his verified Facebook page around the same time, Hamim said: "If the students of Dhaka University think that this is their verdict, then I respect this verdict. I am waiting for the students' reaction."
Earlier, Chief Returning Officer Professor Dr Md Jasim Uddin told reporters that voting in the DUCSU and hall union elections concluded with no major incidents reported throughout the day.
Students cast their vote spontaneously and the overall atmosphere at polling centres was peaceful, he said. A total of 471 candidates contested for 28 positions in this year’s Ducsu election.
Among the candidates, 48 vied for the post of Vice President (VP), 19 for General Secretary (GS), and 25 for Assistant General Secretary (AGS).