The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-backed student organization, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, has announced a boycott of the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JAKSU) and hall union elections, citing widespread irregularities and allegations of rigging. The announcement came on Thursday afternoon at a press conference held at Mowlana Bhashani Hall, where the panel’s vice president candidate Sheikh Sadi Hasan, along with other nominees, formally declared their withdrawal from the polls.

At the press conference, the general secretary candidate Tanzila Hossain Baishakhi detailed a number of complaints regarding the conduct of the election. She stated that Chhatra Dal candidates and activists were obstructed from entering Tajuddin Hall, preventing them from ensuring fair participation. Baishakhi alleged that voter lists did not contain photographs, creating opportunities for manipulation and fraudulent voting. She further claimed that organized groups created chaos in Hall 21, and in Jahanara Imam Hall, an independent candidate was physically assaulted, underscoring the lack of security and impartiality in the electoral process.

According to Baishakhi, the election lost credibility when electronic counting machines provided by a company linked to a Jamaat-e-Islami leader were used, despite objections from Chhatra Dal. “We did not accept the OMR machines supplied by that institution, but the election commission went ahead and used ballots printed by them,” she said, raising suspicion over whether the process had been compromised from the start.

She questioned whether 10 to 20 percent of the ballots had already been allocated to the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami before voting even began. Baishakhi also alleged that in several female dormitories, the same individual was allowed to cast ballots multiple times, severely undermining the credibility of the vote. She added that journalists sympathetic to Jamaat-Shibir behaved disrespectfully toward Chhatra Dal candidates, further discouraging them from continuing in what they termed a staged election.

The Chhatra Dal panel expressed disappointment that the election had failed to reflect the genuine will of the students. They claimed the entire process was marked by rigging, intimidation, and manipulation by opposing groups with the support of authorities, leaving little room for fair competition. “This is not a free and fair election,” Baishakhi said, describing it as a fraudulent and farcical exercise that forced them to withdraw.

The boycott decision comes amid heightened tensions on campus, as this is the first JAKSU election in decades, raising expectations for a fair democratic exercise among the student body. However, the allegations of obstruction, ballot manipulation, intimidation, and partiality in the conduct of the polls have cast a shadow over the credibility of the results.

Chhatra Dal leaders said they were compelled to abandon their candidacy in order to protest what they described as an engineered outcome that silenced the true voice of the students. They reiterated that the decision was taken in the larger interest of safeguarding the democratic spirit on campus, even if it meant withdrawing from the long-awaited election.

With the boycott, concerns have grown over how inclusive and credible the student union will be, as one of the major political student groups has exited the race. The situation has left students divided, with some expressing frustration at the lack of transparency while others continued to cast their votes despite the allegations.

The Election Commission of Jahangirnagar University has yet to issue a detailed response to the allegations raised by Chhatra Dal, but the controversy has already fueled debates over fairness, accountability, and political influence in student politics at the university.