Pro-BNP candidates boycott polls
Alleging that the ruling Awami League men occupied polling centres, pro-BNP candidates boycotted Chittagong's Karnaphuli Upazila Parishad election that was held yesterday.
The aspirants declared the boycott at a press conference at chairman candidate SM Forkan's Shikalbaha house two-and-a-half-hours after the voting had started.
Many voters alleged that they could not cast their ballots due to such untoward incidents.
Moreover, voting was suspended for around an hour at Purba Shahmirpur Government Primary School as AL men tried to occupy the polling centre, said locals.
Presiding Officer Abu Syed Tareq said some polling agents and outsiders tried to create an untoward situation. “So, I halted voting for around an hour.”
Ruhul Amin, general secretary of pro-BNP Shikalbaha Shaheed Zia Smriti Parishad, said some 20 AL activists attacked him and vandalised their camp near AJ Chowdhury College polling centre around 9:00am.
He was talking to The Daily Star while lying on a bed in a clinic.
At the press conference, BNP-backed chairman, vice chairman and female vice chairman candidates alleged that most of their polling agents were driven out by the ruling party men.
Chairman aspirant Forkan said they demanded CCTV cameras at all the polling centres but the Election Commission turned a blind eye. “The ruling party candidates gathered a huge number of outsiders and threatened the voters.”
Vice chairman candidate Md Osman said he could not enter his own polling centre at Purba Juldha Government Primary School.
Over the allegation against the ruling AL men, Returning Officer Munir Hossain Khan said, “I asked them [the pro-BNP aspirants] to specify the names of polling agents and centres.”
Meanwhile, Islami Front vice chairman candidate Md Musa also boycotted the polls raising the same allegation. “We demanded reelection with deployment of army,” he told journalists.
However, pro-AL chairman candidate Faruk Chowdhury denied all the allegations against his supporters saying the election was held in a free and fair manner.
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