People less interested
Three candidates are contesting in the by-election to the Tangail-4 (Kalihati) constituency, which is scheduled to be held on January 31.
Voters, however, are not showing interest in the election, saying that one candidate is much stronger than the two others.
Awami League candidate Hasan Imam Khan is contesting with boat symbol while Ataur Rahman Khan of Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) and Imrul Kayes of National People's Party (NPP) are contesting with television and mango symbols respectively.
AL and NPP candidates were found holding the last day's campaign yesterday in Kalihati municipal and Elenga areas respectively, while the BNF candidate was in Dhaka.
Several voters in the constituency said there will be no contest as the BNF and NPP candidates cannot compete against the AL candidate.
“We know the AL candidate will win in the election without getting our votes,” they said.
“Actually, we lost interest over the by-election after cancellation of the nomination paper of Krishak Shramik Janata League candidate Abdul Kader Siddique for loan defaulting,” they added.
The constituency fell vacant following the resignation of sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique in 2015. He was earlier expelled from the ruling Awami League and the cabinet for “anti-religious remarks” he allegedly made in the US in September 2014.
The Election Commission (EC) on January 24 decided to proceed with the by-polls as all legal complexities have been cleared by the court.
Tangail-4 constituency was declared vacant by the Parliament Secretariat from September 1 and Latif Siddique tendered his resignation letter to the speaker of the Parliament. On September 15, 2015, the EC announced the schedule to hold the by-polls on October 28 that year.
The by-election was suspended due to legal complexity over the validity of the candidacy of Krishak Shramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique. However, all legal complexities were cleared as the Supreme Court on January 18 this year upheld the cancellation of his nomination.
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