Voting begins in festive atmosphere as Cucsu polls held after 35 years
Long queues of students were seen outside polling centres from early morning
Voting in the long-awaited Chittagong University Central Students' Union (Cucsu) election has begun in a festive atmosphere, marking the first such polls in 35 years.
Balloting started at 9:30am today (15 October) across 15 centres set up in five academic buildings - the Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, and two buildings under the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Long queues of students were seen outside polling centres from early morning.
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At room 117 of the Faculty of Engineering, Minhaz Kabir, a student of the 2020–21 academic session from the Department of Arabic, cast the first vote of the day.
Speaking to The Business Standard, he said, "I'm delighted to have voted for the first time on campus. I hope those I've voted for will be elected and work for the welfare of students. I cast 40 votes and faced no difficulty, it felt great to participate."
Visiting the polling centres, university's Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Yahya Akhter told reporters, "Voting is taking place in a festive atmosphere. We organised the election in response to students' long-standing demand. There have been no complaints so far. The election environment is peaceful, we've even seen rival candidates campaigning together, embracing one another, which is heartening."
The university's Pro Vice Chancellor (administration) and chief supervisor of the Cucsu election, Professor Md Kamal Uddin, told reporters, "Students have been lining up since 9am. Although voting was scheduled to begin at 9am, it actually started at 9:30am. Balloting will continue until 4pm. However, as long as students remain in line, we will keep taking votes."
Of the 15 centres, 14 are designated for hall council elections and one for the hostel council. Each centre has around 65 to 70 booths, each equipped with five ballot boxes and five agents, allowing up to 500 voters to cast their votes per centre.
Earlier in the day, students entered the campus in queues under strict security arrangements enforced by the university administration. "Primary checking is being conducted at the gates. Those without ID cards or bank pay slips are not being allowed in. Strict monitoring is underway to ensure compliance with the code of conduct, and no vehicle can enter without authorisation," said Mohammad Ridwan Parvez, a teacher on duty at the main gate.
Security has been heightened across the campus with the deployment of police, RAB, and Ansar personnel alongside the university's proctorial team. CCTV cameras have been installed at all polling centres, and 15 large display screens have been set up for real-time monitoring.
To facilitate student transport, 11 shuttle train trips and 30 buses are operating between Chattogram city and the university campus.
Each student can cast a total of 40 votes, 26 for the central council and 14 for the hall council.
This is the seventh Cucsu election since the university's establishment. A total of 906 candidates are contesting - 413 for the central council and 493 for hall and hostel councils.
Thirteen panels, including representatives from Chhatra Dal, left-leaning student organisations, Islami Chhatra Shibir, and Islami Chhatra Andolon, are participating, alongside 385 independent candidates.
There are 27,518 registered voters - 16,189 male and 11,329 female students. Voting will continue until 4pm, with 700 secret booths and 300 transparent ballot boxes set up across the centres.
The University of Chittagong held its first Cucsu election in 1970, with the last one taking place in 1990.
After three and a half decades, students are once again exercising their right to vote in a democratic, festive atmosphere - making history on campus.
