The University of Dhaka (DU) on Wednesday declared Rashed Khan, political assistant to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the winner of the 2019 Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election for the post of general secretary (GS).

The decision came after the university cancelled former Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) central general secretary Golam Rabbani’s admission to the MPhil programme and, consequently, his candidacy for the GS post.

The decision was communicated to Rashed Khan through an official letter signed by Munshi Shams Uddin Ahmed, acting registrar of Dhaka University, on Wednesday.

According to the letter, following an opinion from the university’s legal adviser, the university’s highest policy-making body, the Syndicate, cancelled Rabbani’s MPhil admission in connection with the 2019 DUCSU election. As a result, his candidacy and position as GS were declared invalid.

At the same time, Rashed, who received the second-highest number of votes in the election, was declared elected as DUCSU general secretary for the respective term.

The decision was taken at a Syndicate meeting held on Monday (August 31), chaired by Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor A B M Obaidul Islam.

The 2019 DUCSU election was held on March 11. Rashed Khan contested the GS post from the ‘General Students’ Panel’, representing activists of the quota reform movement, and secured 6,063 votes, finishing second.

Golam Rabbani, on the other hand, won the GS post with 10,484 votes, defeating Rashed by a margin of 4,421 votes.