The next election to the vice-chancellor panel of Dhaka University was the main reason behind the split in the pro-Awami League teachers' Blue Panel over the May 22 senate election, teachers said yesterday.

Tension was growing on the campus over filing of nominations by two factions of the panel.

The tenure of VC Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique will end on August 24.

As per the Dhaka University Order 1973, the VC shall be appointed by the chancellor for a period of four years from a panel of three teachers. He shall be nominated by the university senate, and be eligible for a re-appointment for a second term.

Sources said as the VC's tenure was nearing the end, a section of teachers, particularly a top leader of the Dhaka University Teachers' Association (DUTA), started lobbying political circles to get their blessings to be the next VC and make sure that Arefin doesn't get included in the VC panel again.

However, another section of teachers wanted the present VC get a reappointment to maintain a congenial educational atmosphere on the campus.   

Some 1,500 teachers are eligible to cast their votes in the May 22 election.

Meanwhile, none of the two Blue Panel factions -- one led by its Convenor Prof Nazma Shahin and another by DUTA President Prof Maksud Kamal -- withdrew their nominations although the last date for withdrawing candidacies expired on Sunday.

Yesterday, teachers of both the factions started campaigning on the campus. 

The convenor of the Blue Panel at the science faculty held a meeting with around 150 teachers at the faculty to introduce the candidates of the Nazma-led panel and to explain what they should do during the election.

At one stage, a group of teachers from the other faction went there, but they were not allowed to take part in the meeting, said Prof Muhammad Samad, a candidate of the Maksud-led panel.

Against this backdrop, the Maksud-led faction in the afternoon distributed leaflets among teachers, seeking cooperation from them. The leaflet listed some reasons for fielding another panel in the election and pointed out “misconduct by some top DU officials”.

Some teachers of the faction alleged that the VC was backing the Nazma-led faction.

Prof Samad said: “We want a united Blue Panel. The division within the platform would bring no good to anyone.”

Prof AJM Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan, a candidate from the Nazma-led faction, claimed the panel that submitted nominations with signatures of the Blue Panel convenor and co-convenors was the “real Blue Panel and the other was a rebel or independent panel”.

The teachers should not get confused in this regard, he added.  

In another development, the Nazma-led faction yesterday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner of the senate election Prof Kalam Uddin, also the DU treasurer, claiming that theirs was the “real Blue Panel” and sought permission for using blue paper in their electoral activities.

Traditionally, the Blue Panel uses blue paper and the pro-BNP-Jamaat teachers' White Panel uses white paper in their electoral activities.

Contacted, VC Arefin Siddique told The Daily Star that there was a long-time tradition of the senate election. He hoped all the teachers would follow the tradition.

Refuting the allegation of backing the Nazma-led faction, he said: “I am the guardian of the university. I have no faction.”