After a 35-year hiatus, polling for the Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union (RUKSU) is underway in a festive atmosphere, with students queuing from early morning across key campus venues.
Voting began at 9 am on Thursday (October 16) and will continue until 4 pm, according to election officials.
The long-awaited ballot, rescheduled to this date following earlier timetable changes, is being conducted at academic buildings on the Rajshahi University campus.
Lines formed before polls opened at centres including Zuberi Bhaban, the Deans’ Complex and Rabindra Bhaban, where presiding officers sealed transparent ballot boxes in the presence of observers before issuing the day’s first ballots.
Students from Syed Ameer Ali Hall, Shah Makhdum Hall and other dormitories cast votes at assigned centres, with women students from Mannujan Hall seen in large numbers at the Deans’ Complex.
Security screening at campus gates, such as Kajla and Binodpur, restricted entry to those with a valid university ID.
Officials said voters receive ballots only after identity checks, indelible ink marking and verification against a dedicated voter list. Counting will be carried out using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) scanning at 17 centres, with 102 machines, and the results will be announced at the university’s Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium.
According to the Election Commission, it is implementing multi-layered safeguards, including enhanced transparency measures throughout the electoral process.
This year’s election will form a 23-member central union for a one-year term, along with 15-member councils in each of the university’s 17 residential halls, and select five student representatives to the University Senate. The university, founded in 1953, last held its central union election in 1989.
A total of 28,901 students are eligible to vote, including 11,305 women and 17,596 men. For the 23 central posts, 247 candidates are contesting—222 men and 25 women.
In the hall councils, 601 candidates—460 men across 11 men’s halls and 141 women across six women’s halls—are vying for 255 positions.
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