BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday cautioned that the upcoming national election could become “highly risky” if the kind of irregularities reported in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) and Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) polls are repeated.

Speaking at a memorial meeting in Mirpur for late BNP leader Kazi Asaduzzaman, Rizvi alleged that the DUCSU election was marred by ballot papers being printed in Nilkhet and other reported irregularities.

How will the vice-chancellor cover up these allegations, which have already been published in the media? he asked.

The DUCSU and hall union polls, held on September 9, recorded over 70 percent turnout according to the Election Commission. Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir emerged as the main rival to BNP’s student front Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), though Shibir swept most major positions, including all three editorial posts, while JCD failed to secure any seat.

Thirteen days later, JCD candidates held a press conference accusing the authorities of 11 specific irregularities in the polls.

Similarly, during the JUCSU and hall union elections on September 11, JCD and several other panels boycotted the vote just hours after polling began, citing “massive rigging and irregularities.”

Jamaat leaders later claimed Shibir’s sweeping victory in the two student union polls would also carry implications for the national election.

The interim government has already indicated plans to hold the next national election before Ramadan in February.

Warning of consequences, Rizvi said: “If such irregular processes continue, the next national election will be extremely risky. People are already questioning whether the results will be engineered through various manipulations.”

He further alleged that the Awami League during its 16 years in power systematically destroyed fair polls. “People could not vote, centers were occupied, ballots were stuffed the night before, and elections without voters were staged.

Even in 2024, ‘dummy elections’ were held. These misdeeds buried fair elections underground so Sheikh Hasina could cling to power. If the same blueprint exists today, it will be disastrous for the nation,” he remarked.

As a former DUCSU vice president himself, Rizvi reiterated that both DUCSU and JUCSU elections were conducted unfairly.

Ballot papers had no serial numbers, irregularities were rampant, and even signatures were forged to create fake voters. Yet the authorities refused to address these complaints, he said.

Accusing the administrations of acting with bias, he added: “The DUCSU polls were held to serve the interests of a particular political group. It was not a level playing field—it was a betrayal of ordinary students.”

BNP Standing Committee member Selima Rahman, who attended the memorial as chief guest, highlighted the colorful political career of Kazi Asaduzzaman.