BGCS rift widens as breakaway leaders launch separate Ducsu bids
Abdul Kader nominated for VP, Abu Baker Mojumdar for GS
Leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad (BGCS) are participating in the upcoming Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) election under multiple factions marking deepening rifts within the organisation's leadership.
BGCS today (20 August) unveiled its full panel for the polls, nominating Abdul Kader for the position of vice president, Abu Baker Mojumdar for general secretary, and Ashrefa Khatun for assistant general secretary (AGS). The panel is titled "Boishommobirodhi Shikkharthi Sangsad."
Some other BGCS leaders and activists, as well as former leaders of the Students Against Discrimination, are contesting the Ducsu polls individually.
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One of the top leaders and the Central Chief Organiser, Tahmid Al Muddassir Chowdhury, today announced his decision to run independently for the position of AGS.
Talking to TBS, Tahmid said he has decided to contest the polls independently due to a lack of consensus with senior leaders and activists of BGCS.
Earlier, on Tuesday night, another central leader of BGCS, Rupaiya Shrestha Tongchangya, resigned from the organisation and declared she would contest the Ducsu polls independently.
Before that, on Monday, Moktosen Muktar, a central joint convener, resigned from BGCS citing allegations of "blind subservience".
"My principles and ideals do not align with subservient politics. Therefore, to make my stance against it clear, I am going to announce my independent candidacy for the position of VP in the hall union, opposing subservient politics," he wrote on Facebook.
On the same day, Sabbir Uddin Rion – the assistant general secretary of the Compilation and Publication Cell of DU unit of BGSC – resigned from the organisation and announced that he would contest the Ducsu polls from a panel named "Samannito Skhikkharthi Sangsad".
Adding to the growing fragmentation, Mahin Sarkar, central joint member secretary of the National Citizen Party (NCP), will also contest for the post of general secretary from the Samannito Shikkharthi Sangsad panel, rather than from BGCS. His decision led to his expulsion from the NCP on charges of serious violation of party discipline.
As such, the Students Against Discrimination itself has fractured into approximately three factions ahead of this year's elections — one led by former spokesperson Umama Fatema; another by former coordinators Abdul Kader and Abu Baker Mojumdar; and a third emerging under Mahin Sarkar's leadership.
When asked about Tahmid Al Muddassir's decision to run independently, the organisation's Central Member Secretary Zahid Ahsan said, "We will take organisational measures against those leaders and activists who are participating in the Ducsu election from different panels or independently without resigning from our organisation."
