The ‘No’ vote secured victory in all three constituencies of the Chattogram Hill Tracts in the referendum.
The margin between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ was highest in Rangamati and lowest in Khagrachhari.
Voting was held from 7:30am to 4:30pm on Thursday, with results available by night following the completion of counting.
According to unofficial preliminary results, a total of 287,471 votes were cast in favour of ‘Yes’ across Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari, while 425,903 votes were cast for ‘No’.
In Bandarban, 71,417 voters supported ‘Yes’ and 90,156 voted ‘No’.
In Rangamati, 71,699 votes were cast for ‘Yes’, compared with 179,805 for ‘No’.
In Khagrachhari, 144,355 voters supported ‘Yes’, while 155,942 voted ‘No’.
It is the first time in three decades, except for the 15 February 1996 parliamentary election, that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has secured an outright victory in all three constituencies of the Chattogram Hill Tracts.
During the campaign, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders and candidates urged voters to back the ‘Yes’ option in the referendum alongside the party’s “Sheaf of Paddy” symbol in the ballot.
However, the results showed that although many voters supported the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ symbol, a majority in the hill districts opted for ‘No’ in the referendum.
