The Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed 28-member panel, Oikyoboddho Shikkharthi Jote, has secured a landslide victory in the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) election 2025, marking its first-ever open participation.

Md Abu Shadik (Kayem), general secretary of the DU Chhatra Shibir unit, was elected vice-president (VP) with 14,042 votes, while SM Farhad, president of the same unit, was elected general secretary (GS) with 10,794 votes.

Chief Returning Officer Professor Mohammad Jasim Uddin announced the results early Tuesday morning.

“For a long time, we have been deprived of democracy, deprived of voting rights. Whenever the country falls into crisis, Dhaka University comes forward to rescue it,” he said while declaring the outcome. He described the election as a long-anticipated event and a “model” that other universities and colleges could follow.

The panel was officially announced on August 18 and campaigned openly — a departure from previous years, when Shibir-linked candidates reportedly contested discreetly without public campaigning.

In the 1990s, major student organisations at Dhaka University reached a consensus to bar Shibir from campus politics. As a result, the group remained largely inactive for decades until resurfacing on August 5 last year.

MN/