Pabna-4 By-polls: AL nominee leads in polls marred by controversy
By-election to Pabna-4 was held yesterday amid a low voter turnout and allegation and counter-allegation over the polls.
BNP candidate Habibur Rahman Habib alleged that ruling Awami League men threatened his polling agents and they also faced harassment from police. He demanded a re-election to the constituency.
The AL, however, denied the allegation and said the BNP was trying to call the by-polls into question.
According to final unofficial results of 71 polling centres out of the total 129, AL candidate Nuruzzaman Biswas secured 141,732 votes, Reazul Karim Khokon of Jaitya Party 2,773 and Habib of BNP bagged 22 votes, Abdul Latif, returning officer of the by-polls, said last night.
Visiting 10 polling centres during polling hours, this correspondent saw a poor turnout of voters. No polling agent of the BNP nominee was present at those centres. However, there were agents of the AL candidate at all polling stations.
Three candidates, including the two from the AL and the BNP, contested the by-polls for this parliamentary seat which fell vacant following the death of AL lawmaker Shamsur Rahman Sherif Dilu on April 2.
Monojit Kormokar, presiding officer of Kalikapur school polling centre in the Ishwardi upazila, said no polling agent of the BNP candidate turned up at his centre until 10:30am. Only 30 voters out of the total 2,457 casted their votes at the centre until 10:00am, he told The Daily Star.
At Ishwardi's Shahpur Shahid Abul Kashem School, the BNP candidate's polling centre, there was no agent for him either.
Mohammed Ali, presiding officer at the centre, said he did not see any polling agent of BNP nominee Habib at his centre. Only 432 votes out of the total 3,488 were casted at the centre till noon, he added.
Meanwhile, BNP nominee Habib at a press conference at his Shahpur village home alleged that there was no election environment at the constituency.
"My polling agents could not go to any polling centre due to threats from ruling party men and harassment by police. Voters did not go to the polling centres either. This is not an election," he told reporters.
He demanded the Election Commission declare the schedule for a fresh by-election to this constituency.
Refuting the allegations, AL Organising Secretary SM Kamal Hossain said the BNP joins an election only for "nomination trade".
Speaking at a press conference at Pabna Press Club in the afternoon, he said the BNP has no target to win an election or make it competitive and that's why it is making false allegations against the AL and the administration.
"The BNP did not take the polls seriously. Their leaders claim that they participate in an election as part of their movement and also to follow the rule of contesting it. They were nowhere in the electoral field. They are just making false and baseless allegations," Kamal told reporters.
The district election office sources said 381,112 voters in 12 unions and two municipalities of Ishwardi and Atghoria upazilas were eligible to exercise their franchise.
Voting was held at 129 polling centres from 9:00am to 5:00pm, said Abdul Latif, district election officer and also the returning officer of the by-polls.
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