Shibir-backed candidates win top DUCSU posts with big margin

Results of DUCSU election were announced at the Dhaka University Senate Building auditorium on Wednesday. UNB

Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed candidates have won the key positions of Vice President (VP), General Secretary (GS) and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election with significant margins.

The final results are being announced at the Senate Building of the university.

Shibir’s VP candidate Shadik Kayem was elected VP securing 14,042 votes while his nearest rival Chhatra Dal’s Abidul Islam Khan got 5,708 votes.

For the GS post, Shibir leader SM Forhad was elected with 10,794 votes while Chhatra Dal’s Tanvir Bari Hamim secured 5,283 votes.

In the AGS race, Shibir’s Md Mohiuddin Khan secured victory with 11,772 votes defeating Chhatra Dal candidate Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed who bagged  5,064 votes.

Voting was held Tuesday in a festive atmosphere across campus for the Dhaka University Central Students Union.

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.

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). - UNB