Voter turnout may be 15-25pc: CEC
By-polls in 6 constituencies
02 February 2023
Staff Reporter :
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has said the average voter turnout in the by-elections to six constituencies - vacated by BNP leaders following their resignation in December - may be 15-25%.
"Voter turnout was relatively low in the by-polls. Approximately 15-25% voters cast vote. It is our assumption, but not final. We have to wait a little more for that," he said in a media briefing at the Election Commission Building in Agargaon on Wednesday.
The CEC also claimed that no significant evidence of irregularities or rigging was found in the voting of six constituencies.
"The polling in six constituencies was peaceful and fair," he said.
The CEC said 40 candidates are contesting in six constituencies. Voting was held through 867 EVMs and the number of voters in six constituencies was 22.54 lakh.
The voting began at 8:30 am and continued till 4:30 pm.
Meanwhile, voting in the by-polls to the six parliamentary seats - Thakurgaon-3, Bogura-4 and 6, Chapainawabganj-2, 3 and Brahmanbaria-2 - was held yesterday amid some stray incidents.
In Chapainawabganj, a chase and counter-chase occurred between supporters of two candidates at the District Ideal High School Centre around 9 am.
A scuffle took place between the supporters of independent candidate Samiul Haque Liton and Awami League-backed candidate Abdul Wadud at the polling station -- triggering a chase and counter-chase, said Additional Superintendent of Chapainawabganj Police, Abul Kalam Shaheed.
However, police brought the situation under control. A crude bomb was recovered from the spot, he said.
Besides, Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan, who resigned from the parliament and was later expelled from the BNP, has been unofficially elected as a member of Parliament from Brahmanbaria-2 constituency.
Independent candidate Sattar bagged 44,811 votes in the by-poll election while his nearest rival from Jatiya Party, Abdul Hamid Bhashani, got 9,580 votes with the symbol "Plough".
The by-polls in Brahmanbaria-2 constituency witnessed only 16 per cent turnout of voters.
The grand alliance-backed candidate AKM Rezaul Karim Tansen has unofficially won the Bogura-4 (Nandigram-Kahalu) by-election, Returning Officer and Bogura Deputy Commissioner Saiful Islam told the Media.
Tansen bagged 20,405 votes in this seat. His closest candidate Ashraful Hossen Alom alias Hero Alom got 19,571 votes.
Earlier on 10 December 2022 at a public rally, parliamentarians of BNP announced their resignation from the JS. The next day, on 11 December, Chapainawabganj-2 lawmaker Md Aminul Islam, Bogura-4 lawmaker Md Mosharraf Hossain, Bogura-6 lawmaker Golam Mohammad Siraj, and Thakurgaon-3 lawmaker Zahidur Rahman resigned.
Two other BNP lawmakers - Advocate Abdus Sattar of Brahmanbaria-2 constituency and Harun-or-Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3 - resigned later.
