AL runners victorious in Bogura-1, Jashore-6

Awami League candidates Shahdhara Mannan and Shahin Chakladar have respectively won the by-polls to Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 constituencies amid low voter turnout due to flood and the coronavirus outbreak.

In Bogura-1 (Sonatala and Sariakandi upazilas), five candidates, including AL candidate Mannan and JP candidate Moksedul Alam, took part in the by-election.

Mannan bagged 145,295 and her nearest contender independent candidate Md Yasir Rahamatullah Intaz got 1,563 votes. Jatiya Party candidate Mokseudul Alam received 1,251 votes.

In Jashore-6 (Keshabpur), only two candidates contested for the polls -- Shahin Chakladar from the AL and Habibur Rahman Habib from the JP.

Shahin bagged 124,003 votes while his opponent Habibiur Rahman Habib got only 1,678 votes, said Bazrul Rahman, election officer of Keshabpur upazila.

Returning officers of these constituencies announced the unofficial results last night. According to the results, 149,431 votes were cast out of 3.30 lakh voters in Bogura while in Jashore 129,067 votes were cast out of 2.04 lakh.

The turnout was only 45.57 percent in Bogura while 63.57 percent in Jashore.  

The voting began at 9:00am and continued until 5:00pm without any break.

There were 122 polling centres in Bogura-1 and 79 in Jashore- 6.

Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 constituencies fell vacant following the deaths of ruling party lawmakers Abdul Mannan and Ismat Ara Sadique respectively.

The EC in February announced that by-elections to the two constituencies will be held on March 29. But they postponed the polls on March 21, considering the coronavirus situation.

On July 4, the EC said that elections to the two constituencies will be held on July 14.

Our Bogura correspondent Mostafa Shabuj found very poor turnout in the polling centres, but polls results say a good number of votes were cast.

Visiting five polling centres, the reporter did not find any polling agent of candidates other than of the AL candidates.

The queue of voters turned almost empty at Char Karnibari Government Primary School in Sariakandi after 2:00pm when only 496 votes were cast. But around 4:00pm, the number rose to 1,050.  

Eyeasir Rahmatullah Entaz, an independent candidate, alleged that AL men forced his agents out of the polling stations.

The situation was quite similar In Keshabpur where no polling agents of JP candidate was visible at any polling centres.

No untoward incidents were reported in any of the polling centres.