CU EC orders vote recount of two hall union results after chaos

The results of the Atish Dipankar Srigyan Hall and Suhrawardy Hall union elections at Chittagong University (CU) have been suspended following allegations of voting irregularities and post-result chaos.

Election Commission member-secretary AKM Ariful Haque announced the suspension around 5:30am today, shortly after declaring the results.

He said the results of both halls would be recounted this afternoon and published later, but did not specify the exact reason for the suspension.

Tensions flared during the result announcement at Suhrawardy Hall when a commotion broke out between Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir activists around 12:50am in front of the Faculty of Engineering building.

During the unrest, Pro Vice-Chancellor Md Kamal Hossain was reportedly confined by protesting students and released about two and a half hours later.

Leaders and activists of Chhatra Dal alleged that their vice president candidate Jamadiul Awal was defeated through vote manipulation.

According to the announced results, Jamadiul received 1,203 votes, while Chhatra Shibir-backed candidate Niamat Ullah secured 1,206 votes.

A Chhatra Dal activist told reporters that in Room 312 of the Faculty of Engineering, where students from the philosophy and Sanskrit departments voted, Jamadiul got only three votes. He claimed this was "unrealistic" since the candidate was known to have strong support among Philosophy students.

At Atish Dipankar Srigyan Hall, the vice president race was also marred by controversy. Repul Chakma had been declared elected by a single vote, receiving 217 votes, while his closest rival Hiraman Sarkar got 216.

Soon after, allegations surfaced regarding the accuracy of the count, prompting the EC to include the hall in its recount decision.