Jucsu polls: Amartya Roy disqualified from VP race a week after candidate list published
He has also been excluded from the voters’ list
Amartya Roy John, the vice-president (VP) candidate from the Sampritir Oikya panel in the upcoming Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (Jucsu) election, has been disqualified.
He has also been excluded from the voters' list.
Jucsu Election Commission announced the decision through a notice published on the university's website today (6 September).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The decision comes a week after the election commission published the list of candidates for the polls. According to the list published on 29 August, 179 candidates are vying for various posts in the Jucsu polls this year. A total of 10 VP candidates, including Amartya, were finalised in the list.
According to today's notice, based on the decision of the authorities, Amartya was deemed ineligible to be both a voter and a candidate under section 4.38 of the Jucsu constitution.
Amartya, who enrolled in the Archaeology Department in the 2017-18 academic session, was a residential student of AFM Kamaluddin Hall. He previously served as president of a faction of Jahangirnagar University Chhatra Union.
As per section 4 of the Jucsu constitution, only regular and valid students of the university are considered members of the students' union, making them eligible to vote and participate in Jucsu polls.
Regarding the disqualification, JU Registrar ABM Azizur Rahman said, "Based on the recommendation of the Academic Council, the Syndicate meeting held on 4 September approved Amartya Roy John, on special consideration, to sit for the examination in undergraduate course no 408. Once the meeting's decision was published, the matter of Amartya Roy not holding regular student status came to the attention of the Election Commission."
On the issue of student status, Controller of Examinations Professor Saleh Ahmad said, "As a student of the 2017-18 session, Amartya sat for his bachelor's examination in 2021 but failed courses no 407 and 408. According to a previous ordinance, Amartya was entitled to only one chance at an improvement exam. But due to an oversight by the Examination Controller's Office, he was allowed two chances instead of one, yet he still failed one course.
"Recently, when he applied for admission into the master's programme, upon review we found that he had not passed one undergraduate course. As a result, instead of allowing him admission to the master's programme, we recommended he be permitted to retake the said undergraduate course, which was later approved by the Academic Council and the Syndicate."
When asked about the issue, Jucsu Chief Election Commissioner Professor Md Moniruzzaman said, "The Election Commission has already issued a statement in the form of a notice. There is no need for any separate comment."
Sampritir Oikya panel protests
Meanwhile, at 9:30pm today, Sampritir Oikya panel held an emergency press conference protesting what they called the "unjust and conspiratorial" decision to cancel the candidacy of Amartya.
In a written statement, panel members Sharan Ehsan (general post candidate) and Nur-e-Tamim Srot (joint general secretary candidate) accused the university administration and election commission of bias and conspiracy.
They said, "Only four days before the election, cancelling Amartya Roy's candidacy is illegal and politically motivated. The expulsion-related issues cited for this decision were already resolved by the court and the university authorities long ago."
The panel further alleged that Amartya's name was suddenly removed from the voter list and changed on the website without issuing any official correction.
They also claimed that some election commission members and a pro-vice chancellor had previously opposed Amartya, suggesting a conflict of interest and partiality.
According to the panel, the administration has failed to ensure a level playing field, and the decision is part of a premeditated plan to sabotage the Jucsu election.
They demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision and urged the intervention of the university chancellor.
