Shortly after the results of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) election began to pour in, signalling an impending win for the Shibir-backed United Students' Alliance, candidates from other panels began to cry foul.
Independent VP candidate Umama Fatema declared a boycott of the DUCSU election, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) backed panel's VP candidate Abidul Islam Khan labelled the election an "orchestrated farce" and Sheikh Tasnim Afroz Imi, VP position candidate of the Protirod Porshad said she could not accept any of the VP candidates as her representative.
They began to voice their concerns shortly after it appeared that Shadik Kayem was heading for a landslide victory after the results from the Curzon Hall Constituency -- namely from Fazlul Haque Hall, Shahidullah Hall and Amar Ekushey Hall -- were revealed.
This had seen Shadik take a huge lead as he tallied 2,451 votes from the three halls.
Other candidates from the United Students' Alliance also had significant leads in the race for the GS and AGS posts.
Umama officially stated her position on a post on her verified Facebook profile made at around 3:35am.
"Boycott! Boycott! I boycott DUCSU. Completely shameless, rigged elections. The DU administration shamed the nation after August 5. Shibir-led administration," she wrote.
Shortly before Umama's post, at around 2:30am, Abidul wrote on his verified Facebook profile, "I had anticipated this orchestrated rigging right after noon. They just fixed the numbers as they pleased. I reject this orchestrated farce."
Imi wrote bluntly on Facebook, "No candidate has worth congratulating has been elected. I cannot accept them as my representatives."
The jibes had started even earlier, with Megh writing on Facebook around 10:00pm, "Planned engineering is going on in the name of votes. Everything is being reported. If you see the detailed results of the trend that is continuing, you and the university students will understand for yourself. That's all I have to say for now. It is clear that this administration is part of the engineering camp. We will watch until the last vote is counted."
When the results first began to pour in, Umama chimed in sarcastically, writing on Facebook, "There's a circus in town. Who else is watching?"
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