Losses in student polls: Is BNP failing to connect with the youth?

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s defeats in five major student union elections point to deeper challenges for the BNP, analysts say, warning that the party cannot afford to ignore the setbacks ahead of the national polls.

The losses suffered by its student wing at public universities have raised questions about the BNP’s ability to connect with young voters, a crucial bloc in the upcoming general election.

According to Election Commission data, about 44 percent of the country’s 12.77 crore voters are aged between 18 and 37. Among them, nearly 4 million are undergraduate and postgraduate students.

With just over a month to go before the national election, Chhatra Dal suffered its latest defeat on Wednesday, losing the Jagannath University Central Students’ Union (JnUCSU) polls to a panel led by Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, BNP’s main electoral rival.

Earlier, it lost student union elections at Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Chittagong University and Jahangirnagar University between September and October last year. The combined electorate at these institutions exceeded 100,000.

Political analysts say student organisations play an active role in election campaigning and can influence broader voter perceptions, potentially affecting the BNP’s electoral prospects. They warn that repeated defeats, coupled with the party’s failure to retain influence on key campuses, could also pose governance challenges even if the BNP wins the national election.

Prof Sabbir Ahmed of Dhaka University’s political science department said the outcomes of student elections could shape the national polls, even if indirectly.

“The results are spreading across the country online and helping BNP’s electoral rivals,” he said, adding that grassroots campaigning by victorious student groups could influence public opinion.

Prof Mojibur Rahman of Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research echoed the concern.

“When elected Shibir leaders campaign for Jamaat in the national election, it will have an impact,” he said.

Despite the repeated losses, he said, the BNP leadership appears to be paying little attention to the warning signs.

“If BNP forms the government by winning the people’s vote, it could still face challenges as it will not control these five universities,” he said, noting that universities in Bangladesh can influence and even destabilise governments.

Analysts say, for the BNP, Chhatra Dal’s failures have not only damaged its standing among students but also created broader political challenges.

They added that the party’s failure to mobilise its student wing after the mass uprising has left it struggling to maintain influence in campuses, leaving space for Shibir to expand its support base.

The defeats were also attributed to Chhatra Dal’s prolonged absence from campuses, a widening age gap between leaders and students, and internal infighting.

Analysts warn that if the BNP fails to reassess the weaknesses exposed by the defeats and make strategic adjustments, it could face setbacks in the upcoming polls.

Prof Sabbir said issues such as extortion by party members and internal feuds over business interests have already contributed to an image crisis for the BNP, which was reflected in the student elections.

Two members of BNP’s Standing Committee acknowledged that the scale of the defeats was deeply disappointing.

“University elections have never had an impact on national elections, and I hope they will not have an impact this time either,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, blaming the previous government for Chhatra Dal’s organisational absence on campuses.

“I hope the democratic environment will return to university campuses,” he added.