The Election Commission is going to buy two lakh Electronic Voting Machines for the next national polls, spending more than 10 times what India paid to obtain its EVMs.

An EVM in India costs about Rs 20,000, said an EC official on the condition of anonymity.

When the EC bought 1.5 lakh EVMs from  Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF) in 2018, each machine cost Tk 2.3 lakh, the official said.

This time, the outlay is bound to be more due to the appreciation of the dollar, the official pointed out adding that a development project proposal involving Tk 7,500-Tk 8,000 crore was being prepared.

More than four years back, the EC bought the EVMs under a Tk 3,825-crore project.

The base price of an EVM was $2,387 (about Tk 2,26,842 in today's money); another Tk 25,000 had to be paid for its accessories.

Last time, there was no value-added tax on the final price of the EVMs but this time there might be taxes, which would increase the cost further, the official said, adding that the base price would remain the same.

Asked why the Bangladeshi device was more expensive than that of many countries including India, EVM Project Director Syed Raquibul Hasan said, "A Tata car does not cost the same here as in India.

"You can't compare our EVMs with those of any other country. In our EVMs, we have added features like a fingerprint matching system, audit card, polling card, and other safety and security measures. The Indian EVM has no such features.

"If a fingerprint scanner and other accessories were added, what will be the cost of an Indian EVM?" Hasan said.

 Asked why the EC has not floated any national or international tender for the EVMs, which might have yielded competitive bidding, Hasan said, "Only BMTF can provide the specific machine."

BMTF is a commercial plant of the Bangladesh Army. The state-owned enterprise has the capacity to deliver two lakh EVMs ahead of the next general election likely to be held in late December next year or early January 2024, according to Hasan.

The move to buy the additional EVMs comes on the back of the EC's August-23 decision to go for electronic voting in up to 150 constituencies in the polls despite major opposition parties' objection to the use of the devices.

The EC has 1.5 lakh EVMs that can be used in 70-80 constituencies at one go in the next polls.

The development project proposal now being prepared includes the setting up of 10 warehouses in 10 regions, recruiting manpower and training them to handle the devices, and buying vehicles for transporting the EVMs.

The warehouses will have foolproof security, firefighting equipment and temperature control for the proper preservation of the EVMs.

The three-storied warehouses would be on 40 kathas of land with more than 60,000 square feet of space to keep around 45,000 EVMs.

"We will need money to buy or acquire land and to have modern facilities to store the machines," Hasan said. Campaigns would be required to make people aware of the EVM use and dispel misconceptions.

The EC is yet to choose the constituencies where EVMs will be used in the next general election.

"This will be finalised when the election schedule is fixed," said an EC official.

EVMs would mostly be used in the urban seats with smooth transportation and also where the devices were earlier used for different elections, the official added.

EVMs were first used in the 2018 parliamentary election.

Nearly half of the BNP candidates who took part in Sunday's election lost their security deposits for failing to secure the minimum votes, according to an analysis of the results of 214 constituencies.

This is the highest number of BNP candidates to have lost security money since the party was formed in 1979.

Under the election law, candidates have to deposit a certain amount of money to the government exchequer to stand in the election. The amount is fixed before every election, and it was Tk 20,000 per candidate this year.

To get the money back, candidates must obtain at least one-eighth of the total vote cast in their seats.

But as many as 214 BNP candidates bagged only 13 percent of the total votes. Of them, 101 candidates secured fewer than one-eighth votes and lost their security money, according to the analysis by The Daily Star.

According to the unofficial results from 298 seats, the AL has bagged 259 seats, Jatiya Party 20 and BNP only five seats.

The BNP has never faced such a situation in any election since June 1996, when it became the largest opposition party in parliament with 116 seats. In that election, only 36 BNP candidates lost their security money.

Even in the 2008 polls, when it bagged just 30 seats, only 14 BNP candidates lost their deposits.

In that polls, held under an army-backed caretaker government, the party fielded 260 candidates and won 32 percent of the total votes cast in those constituencies.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 parliamentary polls, as the ruling Awami League government refused to meet its demand for an election under a nonpartisan administration.

This time, its candidates lost their security deposits even in the districts traditionally known as BNP stronghold -- Chattogram, Noakhali, Feni, Cumilla and Natore.

For example, the BNP candidate in Chattagram-1 got only 3,911 votes. In 2008, the party candidate secured 94,665 votes there.

In Cumilla-5, the BNP nominee got 12,113 votes this time, down from 77,260 in 2008. In Feni-2, the party candidate got 1,20,297 votes in 2008 polls and won the seat. In Sunday's election, the BNP aspirant got just 5,784 votes.

In Laxmipur-1, the BNP candidate secured 74,276 votes in 2008. It came down to just 3,892 this time. 

In Natore-1 and 2, the party candidates got 15,338 votes and 13,197 respectively this time, down from over 1 lakh votes in each of these seats in 2008.

The European Union will send an exploratory election monitoring mission to Bangladesh in July as the Election Commission has welcomed them in a written invitation.

EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley confirmed the development to The Daily Star.

He said he was very happy about Bangladesh's stance of welcoming the international election observers.

This exploratory mission is the first of the three-stage election monitoring mission from the EU.

Only nine out of the 39 registered political parties that contested Sunday's national election have secured parliamentary seats.

The Awami League saw its victory in 259 seats while the Jatiya Oikyafront, comprised of the BNP and other opposition parties, won in only five.

The BNP took part in the polls with its Chairperson Khaleda Zia behind bars on corruption charges.

The Jatiya Party, a component of the AL-led Grand

Alliance, secured 20 seats, the second highest number of seats won by a party.

The Workers Party of Bangladesh became victorious in three constituencies.

Dr Kamal Hossain-led Gono Forum, a key component of Jatiya Oikyafront, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal got two seats each.

Besides, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation and Jatiya Party (Monju) bagged one seat each. Independent candidates won in three out of total 299 constituencies.

Voting was suspended in Brahmanbaria-2 following violence.

Election to Gainbandha-3 is due on January 27 as the Election Commission postponed the polls schedule for the seat after BNP candidate TIM Fazley Rabbi died on December 20.