New history in DUCSU: “Shibir” wins all three top posts

The united student alliance supported by Chhatra Shibir has won the top three posts in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections. Their candidates won these important posts of Vice President (VP), General Secretary (GS) and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) by a large margin.

At 8 am on Wednesday (September 10), Chief Election Commissioner Professor Dr. Jasim Uddin officially announced the results. In the announced results, Md. Abu Sadiq (Sadiq Kayem) got 14,042 votes for the VP post. His closest rival, Chhatra Dal-supported candidate Md. Abidul Islam Khan got 5,658 votes. Independent candidate Umama Fatima got 3,389 votes and Shamim Hossain got 3,681 votes.

Shibir-supported candidate SM Farhad got 10,894 votes for the GS post. His nearest rival, Tanvir Bari Hamim, supported by Chhatra Dal, got 5,283 votes and Meghmallar Basu of the Prevention Council got 4,949 votes.

Mohiuddin Khan won the AGS post. He got 9,501 votes. His nearest rival, Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed, supported by Chhatra Dal, got 4,254 votes.

However, the results were not equal in all the halls. The exception was Jagannath Hall. There, VP candidate Sadiq Kayem got only 10 votes, and Abidul Islam Khan got 1,276 votes.

Earlier, on Tuesday (September 9), voting for DUCSU and Hall Sangsad was held from 8 am to 4 pm in 810 booths at 8 centers of the university. The total number of voters in this election was 39,874. Of these, 20,915 were male and 18,959 were female.

471 candidates contested for 28 DUCSU posts. And 1,035 candidates fought for 234 posts in the parliament. As a result, each voter had to cast a total of 41 votes.

The voter turnout was remarkable. Surya Sen's hall received the highest voter turnout of 88 percent. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's hall received 87 percent, Kabi Jasim Uddin's hall received 86 percent, and Bijoy Ekattor's hall received 85 percent. However, Shamsun Nahar's hall received the lowest voter turnout, only 63.67 percent.

Analysts believe that the victory of the Shibir-backed alliance in the top three DUCSU posts has created a new equation in student politics. Students have turned to alternative forces in the leadership positions that have long been occupied by Chhatra League and Chhatra Dal, which may also have an impact on future national politics.