Vote counting in Jahangirnagar University (JU) Central Student Union (JUCSU) election concluded 42 hours after the end of balloting.
Voting was scheduled to end at 5 pm on Thursday (Sept 11) at the Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall but due to long queues polling continued until 9 pm.
The counting of votes finally ended at 2:40 pm.
Informal results suggested that the panel backed by Islami Chhatra Shibir is leading in 21 out of 25 positions.
Tight races are being reported for four key posts—Vice President (VP), Cultural Affairs Secretary, Sports Secretary and Social Welfare Secretary.
Independent candidates are leading in three positions while Bagchas-backed candidate Ahsan Labib is ahead for Social Welfare Secretary.
Independent candidate Abdur Rashid Jitu is leading the VP race by a margin of around 800 votes over Shibir-backed Arif Ullah while in the Cultural Secretary race, Jisan Ahmed Jisu is ahead of Shibir panel’s Ali Zaki Shahriar.
In the race for Sports Secretary, independent candidate Mahmudul Hasan Kiran is leading against Shibir panel’s Shafiuzzaman Shaheen.
Though the BNP-backed panel boycotted the election earlier, their nominated Assistant General Secretary (Women) candidate Anjuman Ara Ikra urged students to accept the results in the greater interest of the student body.
JUCSU polls: Official results to be announced by 7pm today
She came up with the urge in her facebook post on Friday night.
In her post, she wrote, “Regardless of the outcome, we were committed to ensuring fair voting for the students. Despite open irregularities and rigging by the administration, we must accept this verdict for the sake of the students.”
She further urged BNP student wing leaders to focus on their mistakes and moving forward.
Vote counting of the election began on the night of September 11 after it ended amid allegations of ballot stuffing and administrative bias.
A total of 11,743 students were eligible to cast their votes in the election, with turnout reaching around 67-68 percent.
A total of eight full and partial panels contested this year’s JUCSU election, though several later pulled out of the race.
The panels that boycotted the polls include the BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Sampritir Oikya, Swatantra Angikar Parishad, Songshoptak Parishad, and candidates from the Socialist Student Front. Some independent candidates also withdrew from the election.
Among those who stayed in the race were the Jamaat-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir-supported “Combined Students’ Alliance,” the “Student Unity Forum” backed by Ganatantrik Chhatra Sansad, and the independent “Students’ Sammilon” led by former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Abdur Rashid Jitu.