Jagannath University forms 5-membered EC for JUSCU election

Although the EC was scheduled to be formed on Oct 8, it was eventually convened on Wednesday

Jagannath University authorities have formed a five-member Election Commission to organise the Jagannath University Central Students Union (JUCSU) election.

The university's public relations office shared the information in a notice on Wednesday.

Under the directives of Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Rezaul Karim, the notice, signed by Acting Registrar Prof Md Sheikh Gias Uddin, says: “A 5-member election commission has been formed following the approval of the syndicate in accordance with Section 15 (1) of the ‘Formation and Management Rules of Jagannath University Central Students Union and Hall Students Councils-2025’."

Prof Mustafa Hasan, chairman of the Department of Social Work and controller of university examinations, has been appointed as the chief election commissioner for.

The other four members are Prof Md Shahidul Islam of the Department of Law, Prof Kaniz Fatema Kakoli of the Department of Physics, Prof Md Zulfiqar Mahmud of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Associate Prof Md Anisur Rahman of the Department of Islamic History and Culture.

In the face of continuous protests from the students, the university administration formed a 5-member JUCSU election preparation committee with Mustafa Hasan as the convener and Anisur Rahman as the secretary on Oct 7. They formed the ‘Election Commission’ with only those members.

The university authorities issued a notice on Sept 17, announcing the working plan for the JUCSU elections, scheduling the voting date as Nov 27. Although the notice said that the EC was scheduled to be formed on Oct 8, it was eventually formed on Wednesday.

The JUCSU work plan says that the formulation of policies and code of conduct, announcement of the schedule, publication of the draft voter list, revision of the voter list, publication of the final voter list, the submission of nominations, the selection of nominations, the resolution of objections to nominations (if any), the publication of final candidate list and the campaigns of the candidates would be arranged after the Election Commission is formed.

Before Jagannath became a full-fledged university, a total of 14 student council elections were held when the institution was only a college.

The first election was held in the 1954-55 academic year. The last election was held in the 1987-88 academic year when Md Alamgir Sikder Lotan was elected as the VP of the student council and Jahangir Sikder Jotan was elected general secretary.

Jagannath University was transformed from a college into a full-fledged university in 2005. Since the “Jagannath University Act-2005” did not contain any provision for a student union, no JUCSU elections were held after its establishment.

Many times the university students have demanded elections, but they were not organised and "legal complications" were cited.