In his post, Muntaseer Mahmud stated, "As of today, the Bangladesh Democratic Students' Council (BDSC) has only 23 days left to prepare for the election, which is a very short time. A whole week has already passed in the chaos of the CU-Jobra clashes."

He also raised questions about the university administration's impartiality, citing "an inconsistent administrative structure, the entrenched position of a partisan individual on the election commission, dummy opponents acting as proxies for a specific party, and a biased proctorial body with a discriminatory mindset." He concluded that due to these issues, BDSC has decided not to run a panel in the election.

Another leader, Khan Talat Mahmus Rafi, a notable figure in the anti-discrimination movement and a student in the university's drama department, also announced on Facebook that he would not be a candidate. "I'm new to politics and have never been involved before," he wrote. "As a beginner, I am trying to learn. According to personal and organizational decisions, I will not be participating in the upcoming CUCSU election."

BDSC's decision not to field a panel comes after significant defeats in the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) and Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU) elections. After the DUCSU defeat, a meeting of the organization's executive committee revealed frustration and disappointment among leaders. The JUCSU election, held a day after the DUCSU election, also resulted in a defeat for BDSC.

In an interview with Prothom Alo, Abu Bakar Majumder attributed the student union defeats to internal discord. "In trying to include all stakeholders in July, many people infiltrated our organization by hiding their identities. This prevented our organization from becoming stronger. Many within our ranks created divisions, which became visible. Our inability to strengthen the organization led to these divisions becoming public. Our major failure was not being able to work in an organized manner."

Recently, Rashidul Haque Dinar, an organizer in the CU committee, was expelled for violating organizational discipline. It was later revealed that he plans to run for the CUCSU General Secretary position. When asked about his expulsion, Dinar told the news outlet CtgPost, "My conflict with the central member secretary, Jahid Ahsan, started about three months ago over factional politics. They tried to pressure me with two show-cause notices before permanently expelling me."

Dinar also claimed he was expelled for preparing to run in the CUCSU election on an independent panel. Mahfuzur Rahman, another central leader, is also said to be on the same panel as the Vice President candidate.

While BDSC will not officially field a panel, many of its central and CU branch committee members have been seen collecting nomination forms. It is speculated that they will run as independent candidates or on independent panels.

Attempts to contact BDSC's central member secretary Jahid Ahsan, joint member secretary Rijaur Rahman, and CU branch convener Muntaseer Mahmud were unsuccessful.

In essence, even though BDSC is not officially participating as a party, the internal turmoil, expulsions, and independent candidacies have put the organization at the center of the election conversation.

After a 36-year hiatus, the student union election has garnered significant interest from both students and political organizations. A total of 1,088 candidates have collected nomination forms for the 232 positions available in the CUCSU and hall council elections.

ctgpost/mhd/ssc