Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, secured a decisive victory in this year’s Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections, followed by another significant win at Jahangirnagar University. As one Dhaka University student explained after the results, “I didn’t agree with everything Shibir stood for, but they were the only ones who could win. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has emerged, in the eyes of many, as the “next in line” – the only party with the organization, resources, and history to lead the entire country. The more voters flock to the BNP for strategic reasons, the more unbeatable the BNP appears. Without persuading voters that they can truly compete, these groups risk being sidelined, just as they were in Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University student votes.