CHATTOGRAM: After 35 years, the Chittagong University Central Students' Union (CUCSU) and hall council elections will take place today (Wednesday).
The previous elections were held in 1990.
The Chittagong University (CU) authority has made all necessary preparations to conduct the CUCSU and hall council elections.
This year, a total of 27,521 students will cast vote.
Students will cast their votes simultaneously from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at around 700 booths across 15 centres in five faculty buildings.
Both students and the university administration have made preparations for a smooth and transparent electoral process.
In this year's election, ballot papers will be used for voting, while the counting will be done using the optical mark reader (OMR) system.
A total of 908 candidates are contesting the student union and hall council elections, with 415 vying for 26 posts in CUCSU, and 493 competing for 14 posts in hall councils. Chief Election Commissioner, Professor of the Department of Chemistry Dr. Monir Uddin, told The Financial Express, "The campus is witnessing a festive atmosphere for the CUCSU election. We want this long-awaited election to be completely free from controversy."
Since the founding of the CU in 1966, CUCSU elections have only been held six times despite being intended as an annual exercise.
The first election of the CUCSU was in 1970, when Chhatra League's Mohammad Ibrahim and Abdur Rab were elected as vice president (VP) and general secretary (GS) respectively.
In the second CUCSU election in 1972, Chhatra Union's Shamsuzzaman Hira became VP and Mahmudur Rahman Manna (JSD Chhatra League) was elected as GS.
The third CUCSU was held in 1974 where JSD Chhatra League candidates SM Fazlul Haque and Golam Jelani Chowdhury were elected as VP and GS. Mazharul Haque Shah Chowdhury (from the JSD Chhatra League) became VP and Jamir Chowdhury (from the Bangladesh Chhatra League) was elected as GS in the fourth election in 1979.
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