Claiming the ballots discovered at Ruqayyah Hall after polls to the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) opened as fake, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) has described the whole incident as ‘staged’.
Speaking before the media at the Madhur Canteen after voting ended on Monday (Mar 11), BCL General Secretary Golam Rabbani, who ran for DUCSU vice president, that those who have boycotted the polls ‘staged a drama’ in a bid to ‘question’ the polls.
Responding to queries on irregularities at the Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall and students being barred from casting votes at other halls, Rabbani sought ‘specific complaints’.
“We wanted a 100 percent turnout and we worked sincerely to ensure it,” he said.
BCL’s statement came after the polls ended amid allegations of vote rigging and boycotts by the all other student bodies.
Though voting was to begin at all 18 of Dhaka University’s residential halls at 8 am and end at 2 pm, polls were delayed and suspended at Ruqayyah Hall and Maitree Hall due to reports of irregularities and resulting student protests.
Students at Maitree Hall said they found sacks of marked ballot papers before polls opened.
Ruqayyah Hall students claimed to found a stash of ballot papers behind the voting booths and snatched the ballots alleging voting fraud.
Allegations have surfaced from other halls that BCL activists were hindering voting by making the queues longer by standing in line even after casting their vote.