Lukewarm response to Rucsu polls despite return after 35 years

The return of the Rajshahi University Central Students' Union (Rucsu) polls after a 35-year gap has sparked excitement on campus, yet that enthusiasm has not translated into strong participation in the nomination process.

On the second day of distributing nomination papers yesterday, only nine aspirants collected forms for central parliament posts and one for the senate.

Till yesterday, just 15 candidates collected the nomination papers for 23 central posts, and only one has come forward for the five student representative seats in the senate.

Election officials and observers described the response as "disappointing" and "well below expectations."

None of the major student organisations, including Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir, collected forms over the first two days. Most of the nominations came from general students.

Among those vying for central positions are Abdur Nur and Jewel Rana for vice president (VP), Mahbub Alam for cultural secretary, Nusrat Jahan Ohona for women affairs secretary, and Abu Juhyim Sarkar for science and technology secretary. For executive member posts, Rahul Agarwal Probhat, Abdullah Al Muaj, Md Jewel Rana, and Sojib Hossain collected forms.

Jakir Hossain is the lone candidate so far for a senate seat.

In contrast, interest in hall-level elections has been far more visible.

According to Provost Council convener Prof Sharmin Hamid, 53 students collected nomination forms from different halls, led by Nawab Abdul Latif Hall (12), Taposi Rabeya Hall (11), Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Hall (9), Madar Bux Hall (9), and Rahmatunnessa Hall (4).

"Participation at the hall level is encouraging, but central positions remain under-contested," Prof Hamid noted.

Rucsu treasurer Prof Setaur Rahman admitted the central turnout was below expectations, saying, "The organisations have not shown interest. Most of the forms were taken by general students."

He added that a decision on whether to extend the deadline would be made at a commission meeting today.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi University Chhatra Dal (JCD) alleged irregularities in the process.

"The administration has failed to publish a transparent voter list and excluded first-year students, which is discriminatory. We want all students to be included so the election is fair and participatory," RU JCD president Sultan Ahmed Rahi said.

Leaders of the July mass uprising platform also did not collect forms.

Former coordinator Fahim Reza said one of their panel members suffered a heart attack, delaying plans, while another leader, Salahuddin Ammar, said they would wait until the last day.

Islami Chhatra Shibir did not respond to requests for comment.

Chief Election Commissioner F Nazrul Islam described the turnout as "frustrating" but said the commission would review student demands in today's meeting.

As per the revised schedule, nomination papers can be collected until today, with submissions set for August 27–28. Scrutiny will be held on August 31 and September 1, followed by the preliminary list on September 2.

The final list will be announced on September 4, and voting will take place on September 15 from 9:00am to 4:00pm in all residential halls, with results to be declared the same day.

Rucsu constitution has provision for holding the student union polls every year. But the process was interrupted at different times due to various reasons, mostly the country's "political situation". The last Rucsu election was held in the academic year 1989-90.