By Monday afternoon, a drizzle had given way to a palpable energy on the campus of Dhaka University. The sprawling grounds of its Teachers Student Center (TSC), long a crucible of Bangladesh’s political life, were rehearsing for a historic poll on Tuesday.

The Dhaka University Central Student Union (DUCSU) election has long served as a barometer of Bangladesh’s political life. This year, it carries far greater weight: not just as a student poll, but as a test of whether the country can reclaim the ballot after fifteen years of Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule–and as a signal of the nation’s political trajectory.

The mass uprising that ended Hasina’s government in July last year has rewired the nation’s political landscape, at least for now. Awami League is temporarily banned and its student wing declared a terrorist outfit, so obviously they can’t contest.

The final candidate list, published on August 26, included 471 candidates vying for 28 posts, making it one of the most competitive student union elections in recent memory.

Among the prominent contenders, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s student wing, Chhatra Dal, has positioned itself as a frontrunner. Its Abid-Hamim-Mayed panel–led by vice-presidential candidate Abidul Islam Khan and general secretary candidate Tanvir Bari Hamim–has promised to modernize university facilities and guarantee a safe campus.

On September 7, the panel took an oath to uphold the democratic spirit of both the 1971 Liberation War and the July 2024 Uprising.

After years of state-sponsored repression under the Hasina regime, Islami Chhatra Shibir has staged a striking comeback. Once demonized to the point that even mentioning its name invited stigma, the organization has reemerged with a disciplined digital campaign and, if social media sentiment is any guide, has become a formidable contender–perhaps even the favorite.

Its vice-presidential candidate, Md Abu Shadik Kayem, Shibir’s central publication secretary and a former president of its Dhaka University unit, is running under the coalition banner Oikyoboddho Shikkharthi Jote along with another popular student leader of Shibir SM Farhad.

Their nominations on August 19, 2025, marks Shibir’s first open participation in DU politics in years, with a platform centered on inclusive student governance. Shibir candidates appealed for impartial treatment from faculty and administrators, while pledging to improve safety, welfare, dormitory access, and transport.

Left-leaning groups and independents are also in the fray. The Students Against Discrimination (SAD), led by former coordinator Abdul Kader, has formed an alliance of progressive organizations campaigning on student-centric issues and drawing support from those who want a safe and peaceful campus. Independent candidates, such as former Chhatra Federation leader Umama Fatema, add further depth to an already crowded and competitive field.

Elections significance and a vicious online battle

The election’s significance now stretches well beyond the campus gates. With the national vote scheduled for February, DUCSU poll has become a dress rehearsal for Bangladesh’s political future.

The surge of candidates and panels reflects a rekindled faith in democratic participation, and a weary nation–scarred by years of stolen elections and broken promises–is watching to see whether Dhaka University can once again mirror the republic’s aspirations.

Yet the campaign has also exposed the darker undercurrents of student politics. Over the past month, the contest has devolved into a bitter spectacle, fought as much on screens as in the residence halls.

The university once revered as a crucible of liberation has become the stage for a vicious proxy war between entrenched ideologies. Islami Chhatra Shibir’s return to campus politics has fueled a toxic online battle with Chhatra Dal, each hurling venom with the intensity of a blood feud.

Their dueling narratives have turned social media into a theatre of hatred, more soap opera than serious debate.

This ugliness has spilled offline as well. Incidents of intimidation and harassment have laid bare the entrenched habits of coercion. A female candidate from a left-leaning panel, who dared to challenge a Shibir nominee in court, was threatened with “gang rape” on social media.

The perpetrator was expelled, but the episode underscored how violence–digital or otherwise–remains a weapon of political control. The Students Against Discrimination (SAD), a key force of the July uprising, has also been targeted.

Its leaders report a barrage of smears and threats against their families–an unmistakable attempt to silence the new generation of voices before they can reshape the narrative.

For Chhatra Dal, the BNP’s student wing, the road has been no less turbulent. Though branding itself as a champion of democracy, it has faced allegations of breaking its own code of conduct, including vandalizing opponents’ posters.

Its credibility was further tested when “general students” staged a protest against hall-based politics–only to be met with a counter-protest from Chhatra Dal activists, underscoring how difficult it is to shed entrenched habits of muscle and patronage.

But the stakes of this election extend far beyond Dhaka University. At its core, the vote is a test of whether a new generation can finally move past the culture of intimidation, clientelism, and manufactured consent.

It functions as a referendum not only on the future of student politics but also on Bangladesh’s democratic prospects. If conducted fairly, the DUCSU election could set a precedent for the coming national polls, proving that transparency and merit are not utopian aspirations but attainable standards after last year’s bloody uprising.

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