Candidates promising voters to ensure better campus
Candidates contesting the March 11 election of Dhaka University Central Students Union (DUCSU) and hall union polls are making various commitments to persuade voters in their favour.
Aspirants from various panels including ruling party student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) went to voters seeking votes. But general students of DU coward away from most of the student leaders.
Now student leaders have brought changes in their behavior and are going from door to door to woo voters promising a better campus free from all forms of conflict.
Almost all student leaders, including those from the pro-Awami League BCL, are passing busy hours trying to woo general students with their electoral pledges.
Meanwhile, many candidates demanded extension of the voting time alleging the university administrations were hatching plot to stage a lopsided poll to favour a specific party.
Students would cast their vote on March 11 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm to choose their representatives.
They also said that almost 43,000 students would cast their votes on the day where each elector have to cast 38 votes and if each voter take minimum 3 minute to vote it would not be possible to cast down all the votes within just six hours.
Central general secretary independent candidate Umme Habiba Benojir, also a Bangladesh Chhatra Federation leader, demanded extension of voting time so that students could cast their vote in a calm environment.
Assistant General Secretary post candidate Abu Raihan Khan proposed to set up 357 polling booths at the dormitories if the administration wanted to complete casting within the timeframe.
Independent central general secretary post candidate ARM Asifur Rahman said that without extending the voting time, it’s impossible to cast all the votes.
He further said that the university administrations from the very beginning favoring one particular student wing without paying any heed to logical demands of others, terming it as an administrative evil design.
Bangladesh Chhatra League backed panel held a projection meeting at the altar of Aparajeyo Bangla and also announced their manifesto at the event.
They set up a stage to hold the meeting but as per the section seven of the code of conducts any candidate or any student organisation on behalf of him cannot build any gate, circle office, camp or pandal, cannot set up any stage or illuminate any structure for campaigning.
Assistant general secretary nominee from BCL’ panel Saddam Hussain claimed that it was not stage.
‘It was a basement. It would be bit higher if it were a stage. We held the meeting upon permission from the chief returning officer,’ he said.
In the meeting, vice president candidate Rezwanul Haque Chowdhury Shovon, general secretary candidate Golam Rabbani, assistant general secretary Saddam Hussain and chairman of the DUCSU electioneering committee Sanjit Chandra Das among others were present. VP aspirant Rezwanul Haque introduced their panel members to the general students.
In this program, they made a number of pledges to woo voters vowing to transform the university with full residential facility.
Their commitments include making the university campus fully residential, to ensure seat allocation to the fresher students erecting higher buildings, bring all activities of the university will under automation, take steps to cancel unworthy evening course, steps would be taken to review affiliation extended to seven colleges, take steps to make digital lab and library complex.
They also pledged that, if voted to DUCSU, the central library would be open 7 days and 24 hours, extend fee and fine would be cancelled, stopping public transports through university campus and control private transport, routes and buses of the university to increase, increase allocation in research, free campus from drug, smoking and terrorism.
Meanwhile, banned Hizb ut-Tahrir on Wednesday night pasted posters on the walls of Madhu’s canteen of the university urging general students to boycott DUCSU poll which later were removed by activists of other student orginaisations.
