Jatiya Party candidate Shamim Hyder Patwari won yesterday's by-polls in Gaibandha-1 (Sundarganj), while ruling Awami League candidate BM Farhad Hossain was victorious in Brahmanbaria-1 (Nasirnagar).

Shamim defeated AL candidate Afroza Bari by around 10,000 votes.

Patwari secured 78, 926 votes, while 68, 913 votes went to Bari, according to Regional Election Officer and Returning Officer GM Shahatab Uddin, who announced the result of the by-polls unofficially.

According to Election Commission, around 44.46 percent votes were cast in the constituency.

In Brahmanbaria-1, AL candidate Farhad Hossain got 83,314 votes while his nearest rival Rezwan Ahmed of JP secured 34,901 votes.

According to our correspondents, by-polls to both constituencies were held peacefully, except for a few stray incidents. The turnout of voters in the polling centers, however, was poor.

following the death of AL leader and fisheries and livestock minister Sayedul Hoque on December 16 last year, while Gaibandha-1 seat fell vacant after lawmaker Golam Mostafa Ahmed of AL died in a road accident on December 19.