Leaders and activists from Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) held a sit-in outside the Bangladesh Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka’s Agargaon, alleging bias in postal ballot and student union election decisions. The JCD, linked to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), initiated the protest at 10 a.m. on Sunday, as reported by The Daily Star. JCD President Rakibul Islam criticized the Election Commission, claiming that certain political groups influenced ballot-related activities with the Commission’s knowledge.
The protest highlighted concerns of discrimination in student union elections at institutions like Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) and Jagannath University. Rakibul accused the Election Commission of deliberately undermining their group in these polls, suggesting favoritism towards a specific political party’s student wing. The JCD leaders outlined three demands during the protest, including fair decisions on postal ballots, avoidance of politically pressured rulings, and withdrawal of a controversial order related to the SUST student union elections.
On January 15, the Election Commission granted permission for SUST to conduct its student and hall union elections on January 20. Meanwhile, on January 9, the BNP expressed concerns about the country’s law and order situation ahead of the upcoming elections in February. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir condemned the killings of political leaders and urged the government to prevent such incidents during the elections, as reported by local media outlets.
