The Shibir-backed United Students' Alliance panel swept the top posts of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) election, with its candidates winning the offices of vice-president, general secretary and assistant general secretary, according to the results announced on Wednesday morning.
Additionally, nine of the 12 secretary posts also went to the Shibir-backed candidates.
The panel's VP candidate Shadik Kayem got 14,042 votes, beating out Chhatra Dal's Abidul Islam Khan, who secured 5,708 votes.
Its GS candidate SM Farhad (10,794 votes) and AGS candidate Mohiuddin Khan (11,772) also cleaned up. SM Farhad beat Chhatra Dal-backed candidate Tanvir Bari Hamim, who got 5,283 votes. Protirodh Parishad's Meghmallar Basu was in third place with 4,949 votes in the GS race.
Although the results were supposed to be announced by 10:00pm on Tuesday, DU Chief Election Commissioner Professor Mohammad Jasim Uddin started announcing the results at the university's Senate Building from 8:30am on Wednesday.
Although the Shibir-backed panel's canter to victory was easier than many had imagined it would be, there was one crucial moment when it appeared that the tide could turn the other way.
Amidst allegations of irregularities and threats of boycotts, Kayem built a solid lead by the time the first batch of numbers began to pour in after polling closed at 4:00pm Tuesday.
He landed big wins in the Curzon Hall constituency's three halls, namely Fazlul Haque Hall, Shahidullah Hall and Amar Ekushey Hall, securing 2,451 votes and taking a sizeable early lead.
His closest competitor, Chattra Dal's Mohammad Abidul Islam Khan, could only manage 521.
The case was much the same in the race for the GS and AGS posts, with Farhad and Mohiuddin dwarfing their competitors with nearly 2,000 votes each from the constituency.
Jagannath holds back the tide; Rokeya lets it slide
However, any premature celebrations were abruptly cut short after the results from Jagannath Hall were revealed.
Kayem was pegged back, getting a meagre 10 votes. On the other hand, Abidur found overwhelming support, garnering 1,276 votes.
Suddenly, the race tightened, with a gulf of around 650 votes. Independent candidates Umama Fatema and Shamim Hossain also remained on the periphery.
The GS and AGS positions also suddenly looked to be under threat.
At that point, the competition was heating up.
But in one fell swoop, Begum Rokeya Hall poured cold water all over that, with Kayem securing 1,472 ballots from the hall. Abidur could manage just 575, Umama 614 and Shamim Hossain 684.
GS candidate Farhad also tightened his grip with 1,120 votes while Meghmallar Bosu of the Protirod Parshad got 780 and Sheikh Tanvir Bari Hamim from the Chhatra Dal-backed panel got 447.
As the numbers continued to roll in, there were no more ripples of shifting tides.
By the time five of the eight polling centres had publicised the data, Kayem had 7,516 votes for VP, more than double Abidur's total of 3,653. For the GS post, SM Farhad was ahead with 5,638 votes, with Megh at 3,465 and Hamim at 2,753.
At the end of the day, the scenario had changed little. The United Students' Alliance continued to get big wins and push on.
Hours after the light of day broke, the final results ultimately filtered through. The fate of the election, however, was determined in the deep dark of night.
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