CUCSU election: 4 panels including Chhatra Dal, Shibir in limelight

Different student organisations have announced their panels to contest the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) and hall union elections. A total of seven panels were announced throughout the day yesterday, Thursday, in addition to two others declared earlier.

With the names of VP (vice-president) and GS (general secretary) candidates now revealed, the campus is abuzz with election discussions. However, students say that the main contest for the top posts is likely to be among four panels including the Chhatra Dal and the Chhatra Shibir.

In the 59 years since its establishment, Chittagong University has held a CUCSU election only six times. The seventh election will be held on 12 October. Thursday was the last date for submitting nomination papers.

The election commission announced at 7:00 pm that a total of 931 students had filed nomination papers to contest the election with 429 for the central union and 356 for the hall unions.

According to Professor AKM Ariful Haque Siddique, member secretary of the election commission, scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on Sunday, followed by publication of the draft list of candidates on Monday. Candidates will have until Tuesday to withdraw, with the final list being published next Thursday.

After filing nominations, the Chhatra Dal announced its panel in the afternoon. Later around 2:30 pm, the Islami Chhatra Shibir announced their panel under the banner ‘Sampriti Shikkharthi Jote’.

Then at 4:00 pm, 10 political, social, and cultural student organisations united to declare a combined panel named ‘Boichittrer Oikya’. Around 4:30 pm, Islami Chhatra Andolan launched its panel under the banner ‘Sachetan Shikkharthi Sangsad’.

At 5:00 pm, under the leadership of Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad’s central joint convener Mahfuzur Rahman, another panel named ‘Swadhin Shikkharthi Shammilon’ was declared. Notably, Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad is not contesting as an organisation, and Mahfuzur Rahman is running independently.

Meanwhile, the Student Alliance for Democracy (SAD), an organisation of students who participated in the July movement and the Chhatra Federation announced their panel named ‘Swadhin Shikkharthi Jote’ at 6:00 pm. Finally the ‘Club Alliance’, a coalition of 20 non-political campus clubs, declared their panel at 6:30 pm.

Earlier on Sunday, the Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and the Chhatra Union jointly announced their panel under the name ‘Droho Parshad’. On Saturday, the Chhatra Odhikar Parishad declared its panel named ‘CUCSU for Rapid Change’. In total, nine panels are contesting the central union election this year.

Following the panel announcement, Prothom Alo spoke to leaders and activists of different student organisations as well as to general students. They said that despite the number of panels, the main contest for the top three positions is likely to be among four panels.

The panels are from the Chhatra Dal, Chhatra Shibir-backed ‘Sampriti Shikkharthi Jote’, the left alliance ‘Droho Parshad’, and the 10-organisation alliance ‘Boichittrer Oikya’. The reason behind is that their candidates are well-known on campus, often seen at the forefront of various movements, and have even faced attacks from Chhatra League (currently banned).

However, students have shown interest in candidates from other panels as well, saying they will carefully evaluate their track records before taking final decision on casting votes. In that case, they might prioritise the candidate’s activities over party affiliations.

Chhatra Dal’s central general secretary Nasir Uddin announced their panel at the ‘Buddhijibi Chattar’ on the university campus Thursday. A student from the philosophy department and organising secretary of Chhatra Dal’s Chittagong University unit Sajjad Hossain will contest the VP post, while a student from the sports science department Md Shafayat Hossain is the GS candidate on the Chhatra Dal panel.

From Shibir’s panel, Ibrahim Hossain, president of the organisation’s Chattogram South City unit and an MPhil student at the history department, will contest the VP post. Their GS candidate is Shibir’s CU unit literature secretary and history department postgraduate student Saeed Bin Habib. Third-year sociology student Akash Das, who is visually impaired, will run for executive member for their panel.

From the left alliance ‘Droho Parshad’, a student at the theatre department, Riju Lakshmi Oborodh, who is the general secretary of the Chhata Front unit at CU, is contesting as the VP candidate. Banking and insurance department student Ifaz Uddin, general secretary of the Chhatra Union’s university committee, is the GS candidate from this panel.

From ‘Boichittrer Oikya’ panel, Bangla department’s Dhruvo Barua, an organiser of Ganatantrik Chhatra Council’s university unit, filed for the VP post. He recently staged a hunger strike demanding the resignation of the proctorial body and six other demands. Their GS candidate is Bangla department student Sudarshan Chakma, general secretary of the Pahari Chhatra Parishad’s university unit.

Candidates for VP and GS posts across these panels pledged to bring a new era of student politics, free from extortion, drugs, hall seat dealing, and other unethical practices.

Ten students from five residential halls were asked what they expect from VP and GS candidates in CUCSU election. They said the campus had long been under the sole dominance of Chhatra League, with frequent clashes between its 10 factions disrupting academic activities.

In addition, hall accommodation was also controlled by the Chhatra Legaue, forcing students to seek its approval to secure seats. So, they said they do not want a repetition of that same situation.

Ariful Islam, a student from Shahjalal Hall at CU, told Prothom Alo that he wants leaders in the students’ union who will work on key issues such as accommodation shortages, poor food quality, and transport problems.