AL runner wins in a low-turnout by-election
The by-election to Sylhet-3 constituency was marked by a very low turnout of voters yesterday.
The seat fell vacant after parliamentarian Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury died of coronavirus on March 11.
AL candidate Habibur Rahman Habib won with 90,064 votes, while JP candidate Atiqur Rahman Atik earned the second highest number of votes -- 24,752.
BNP rebel Shafi Ahmed Chowdhury got 5,136 votes while Bangladesh Congress candidate Junayed Mohammad Miah got 640. No other BNP candidate participated in the polls.
Meanwhile, BNP rebel candidate Shafi Ahmed Chowdhury and Bangladesh Congress candidate Junayed Mohammad Miah alleged the election was influenced in favour of the AL candidate, adding that AL agents misguided voters to vote for Habibur as most people were unfamiliar with EVMs.
They, however, did not lodge any written complaint with the returning officer in this regard.
M Kazi Emdadul Islam, deputy commissioner of Sylhet and the returning officer (RO), declared the result at 9:00pm.
However, only 1,20,591 votes were cast from 3.49 lakh, from Dakshin Surma, Fenchuganj and Balaganj upazilas, which means only 34.46 percent of all voters exercised their voting rights.
Around 8:50am, only 25 out of 1,932 votes were cast at the Purbobhag Govt Primary School centre in Dakshin Surma upazila.
A total of 399 votes were cast till 4:00pm -- only 20.65 percent of the total, said Md Abdul Momin, the centre's presiding officer.
This correspondent visited 15 of the 149 centres and witnessed a low turnout of voters in all of them.
At Kotalpur Government Primary School centre in Fenchuganj upazila, 27 percent votes were cast till around 2:00pm.
Alauddin, a farmer in Dakshin Surma upazila, voted at the Haji Mohammad Raja Chowdhury High School, said, "People are busy these days with farming and no longer interested in elections as the result is predictable."
However, RO Emdadul Islam said the votes cast ranged between 30-40 percent.
EVMs (electronic voting machines) were used in all centres, which confused many voters, but they were happy as there were no long queues.
Polin Begum, of Fenchuganj upazila, after casting her vote at Dargapur Govt Primary School, said, "I was afraid before coming to the polling centre, but it was easier than I thought."
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