RUCSU goes to polls to today, 16 elections in 72 years

The election for the Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union (RUCSU), hall unions, and student representatives to the Senate will be held today, Thursday. This will mark the 17th RUCSU election in the university’s 72-year history. Like other public universities in the country, no student union elections were held in Rajshahi University since 1990.

After three and a half decades, the RUCSU election has garnered enthusiasm among students. Meanwhile, the university administration said they have completed all necessary preparations for the voting. Polls will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in 990 booths across 17 centers in nine buildings on campus. Security has been tightened in and around the university. A large number of police, along with members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), have been deployed.

Vice Chancellor Professor Saleh Hasan Naqib told Prothom Alo on Wednesday, “Overall, the candidates and their supporters have showed responsibility. If they continue this behavior tomorrow (Thursday) and the following day (Friday), and if teachers, officials, and employees treat the process as a trust, then the entire election will remain transparent.”

Rajshahi University was established on 6 July 1953. Formal academic and administrative activities began on the present campus in 1964. The first student union formed at the university was called the “Rajshahi University Students’ Union.” Elections were held for this body during the 1956–57 and 1957–58 academic years.

In an article titled “RUCSU: Past and Present,” former RUCSU treasurer and retired economics professor Md Abdur Rahman wrote that students at that time even went on strike to demand elections to the Rajshahi University Students’ Union. The administration was eventually compelled to hold the election.

A commemorative publication issued in 2003 on the university’s golden jubilee included several articles about RUCSU. According to that source, there have been a total of 16 student union elections, combining both “Rajshahi University Students’ Union” and RUCSU polls. Among them, 10 took place before the country’s independence, and six afterward—during the academic sessions of 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1988–89, and 1989–90.

After independence, in RUCSU elections, the post of Vice President (VP) was won twice by Bangladesh Chhatra League, twice by Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree, once by Bangladesh Chhatra Union, and once by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal. For the General Secretary (GS) post, Jasad Chhatra League won three times, Chhatra League twice, and Chhatra Union once. The last election was held in the 1989–90 academic year, when Ruhul Kabir Rizvi of Chhatra Dal became VP and Ruhul Quddus of Jasad Chhatra League became GS. Since then, no RUCSU elections have taken place.

Ahmad Sofiuddin, president of Sujan (Citizens for Good Governance), Rajshahi district, and a former student of the university, said that during the 1950s, student union elections were not viewed politically. They were seen as platforms for developing social leadership, he said. But in the 1960s, student politics evolved into anti-Pakistan movements. After independence, those who won major student union posts were often ideologically opposed to the ruling party.

When student unions began to criticise government actions, it influenced national politics, making governments wary. Out of fear of this criticism, authorities eventually stopped holding student union elections at universities, he added.

He added, “When student unions began to criticize government actions, it influenced national politics, making governments wary. Out of fear of this criticism, authorities eventually stopped holding student union elections at universities.”

Following the fall of the Awami League government in the July mass uprising, student union elections have resumed at public universities. Elections have already been held at Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, where most positions were won by panels supported by Islami Chhatra Shibir. Yesterday, Chittagong University held its student union election, and today RUCSU will follow.

There 25 posts in RUCSU. Of these, students directly elect representatives to 23 posts—excluding president and treasurer. Each hall union has 17 posts, with 15 student-elected positions besides the president and treasurer. Additionally, elections for five student representative seats in the Senate will be held alongside the RUCSU polls.

A total of 247 candidates are contesting the 23 RUCSU posts, 597 candidates are running for 15 positions each in 17 hall unions, and 58 candidates are competing for the five Senate representative seats. Each voter can cast ballots for 43 positions within a 10-minute period.

For the RUCSU election, 18 candidates are vying for the VP post, 13 for GS, and 16 for Assistant General Secretary (AGS). The total number of registered voters is 28,901—comprising 11,305 female students and 17,596 male students.

Ten panels are competing in the RUCSU election. Only two have full slates—the Chhatra Dal–backed “Oikoboddho Notun Projonmo” and the Islami Chhatra Shibir–backed “Shommilito Shikkharthi Jot.” Other panels include the leftist coalition-backed “Gonotantrik Shikkharthi Porshod,” the “RUCSU for Radical Change” alliance by the Student Rights Council and the Student Federation, the “Adhipottobirodhi Oikko” led by two former coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, and the “Shorbojonin Shikkharthi Shongshod” led by female VP candidate Tasin Khan.

The RUCSU election schedule was first announced on 28 July, earlier than those of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, and Chittagong universities. However, the voting date was postponed three times due to protests against the pet quota and other issues. Candidates have alleged bias and violations of the code of conduct, though no panel has boycotted the election.

According to the RUCSU constitution, its activities include organising various social and cultural programs, publishing an annual journal, engaging in humanitarian and social activities, holding discussions and lectures on various topics, and organising cultural and sports competitions at least once a year, as well as sending representatives to inter-university contests and environmental conferences.

Former RUCSU leaders and teachers say that the primary function of the student union is to represent student demands and negotiate solutions with the administration. Without RUCSU, students have long lacked official representation. As a result, whenever they raised issues through protest movements, they often faced hostility from ruling-party student organisations. Many problems, including those related to accommodation, remained unresolved, while violence, killings, and harassment continued on campus.

Mahin Sarkar, a student of the Department of Political Science, told Prothom Alo that the election of RUCSU could help end infighting and reduce the dominance of partisan politics on campus. It will restore an academic environment at the university, he said, adding that RUCSU elections should be held regularly.