BNP candidates secured landslide victories in the Bogura-6 by-election and the Sherpur-3 polls held on Thursday, while Jamaat-e-Islami alleged widespread irregularities, including assaults on polling agents, centre occupation, ballot manipulation, and attempts to falsify results.
In the Bogura-6 by-election, occasioned by prime minister Tarique Rahman’s abdication in favour of his other seat at Dhaka-17, BNP’s Md Rezaul Karim Badsha secured 1,33,931 votes, while his nearest rival, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Md Abidur Rahman Darpala, received 57,159 votes.
Bangladesh Development Party candidate Al Amin Talukder got 526 votes. Out of 4,54,043 registered voters, 1,93,326 cast their ballots, marking a turnout of 42.58 per cent.
Returning officer Md Fazlul Karim announced the result at around 9:00pm. BNP leaders congratulated Badsha and presented him with floral tributes.
In Sherpur-3, BNP’s Md Mahmudul Haque Rubel won with 1,66,117 votes. His nearest competitor, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Md Masudur Rahman received 47,051 votes, while BASAD’s Md Mizanur Rahman polled 480 votes.
Returning officer and district election officer Md Jahangir Alam announced the unofficial result from the district control room.
Meanwhile, the election commission has directed the returning officers of Bogura-6 and Sherpur-3 constituencies to submit reports after examining allegations raised by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami over irregularities in the by-elections.
‘We have started investigating. I have already asked for the report from our respective officers,’ said EC senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed in the afternoon, while replying to a question from reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city’s Agargaon area.
When asked about Jamaat’s decision to boycott the Sherpur-3 election, he said, ‘They have boycotted the election—why they did so is a question for them. We arranged the election; we did not ask anyone to boycott it.’
Earlier in the day, Jamaat secretary general Mia Golam Parwar, at a press conference in the capital’s Moghbazar area, alleged serious irregularities during voting in the Bogura-6 by-elections and Sherpur-3 polls.
He alleged that presiding officers collected signatures from agents on result sheets even before voting began in some polling stations, violating election rules.
Jamaat-nominated candidate Masudur Rahman announced a boycott of the Sherpur-3 election at around 3:00pm, alleging that a fair election was not possible.
