AL’s Moslem wins amid low turnout
Awami League-backed candidate Moslem Uddin Ahmed won the by-election to Chattogram-8 constituency yesterday amid a low turnout of voters, reports BSS.
With the symbol “boat”, Moslem got 87,246 votes, with his nearest contender -- BNP-backed Abu Sufian -- getting 17,395 votes for “sheaf of paddy”.
Md Hasanuzzaman, regional election officer and returning officer for the by-polls, announced the results at the temporary election office in the port city’s gymnasium field.
Voting was held through Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) from 9am to 5pm in 170 polling centres of the constituency, that comprises the port city’s Chandgaon and parts of Bayezid, as well as Boalkhali upazila.
Voter turnout remained low on the day, with only 22.94 per cent votes being cast among the 4,74,485 voters of the constituency.
Four other candidates contested in the seat that fell vacant after the death of lawmaker Moinuddin Khan Badal on November 7 last year. Of them, SM Abul Kalam Azad received 1,185 votes, Syed Mohammad Farid Uddin got 992 votes, Emdadul Haque got 567 while Bapan Dasgupta got 656 votes.
Earlier in the day, BNP candidate Abu Sufian demanded suspension of voting, citing various irregularities, including “polling centre capture” by Awami League activists, reports UNB.
“I’ve sent a written complaint in this regard to the Election Commission,” Sufian said at a press conference at the BNP office in the city around 1pm.
Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) drove voters out of polling stations after taking their fingerprints and prevented them from casting their votes, he alleged, adding that BCL men captured 120 polling centres out of 170.
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