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Published : 13 Sep 2025, 02:49 AM
The tally for 21 hall councils concludes after a day full of developments, while vote counting for the Jahangirnagar University Central Studen’s Council (JUCSU) election is still ongoing.
At 12:45am on Saturday, counting is still under way inside the Senate Bhaban, with scenes of vote tallying projected live on large screens around the campus, drawing groups of students near the building, Bottola and transport area.
The day begins with grief as Assistant Prof Jannatul Ferdous of the fine arts department passed away.
Voting paused from 1pm to 4pm for Jumma prayers and funeral, before resuming in the afternoon.
At 4:20pm on Friday, Vice-Chancellor Prof Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan convened a meeting with polling officers and returning officers at the Senate Bhaban.
Later, rumours circulated that vote counting had been temporarily suspended.
Rumours soon spread that the process had been halted, prompting protests from the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed , Samonnito Shikkharthi Jote, which set a deadline for results to be declared within the night.
The university authorities clarified shortly before 8pm that hall-level counts had been completed and JUCSU ballots were then being taken up for tally.
Tension deepened when Prof Mafruhi Sattar, president of the BNP-leaning Jatiyatabadi Teachers’ Forum and one of the election commissioners, resigned from the commission.
The Shibir panel denounced his resignation at a late-night press conference, calling it part of a “conspiracy”.
Polling officers described the process as gruelling. One officer told bdnews24.com: “Manually counting the votes has left us in a dire state. We are suffocating inside the room. No food was provided tonight. My husband had to bring food from outside.”
A police personnel voiced a similar complaint in the evening: “Our unit was not provided with food. The university authorities gave us nothing either. We were not even told to arrange meals ourselves. It is extremely unfortunate.”
Frustration also grew among students waiting for the results. Many stayed in the Senate Bhaban compound despite the rain, some remaining in the open courtyard into the night.
Chief Election Commissioner Md Moniruzzaman told reporters in the evening: “We hope to complete the count and announce the results within the night. We cannot provide a specific time.”
Students, however, doubted the possibility. Many said the pace of counting made it unlikely that results would be announced by night, leaving them reliant on the commission’s assurances.
