The by-election in Thakurgaon-1 today is a test of the BNP government’s popularity eight months after it took office, as the party fights to retain a seat vacated by President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, while the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance is working hard to secure a win.
Voting is scheduled to take place from 8am to 4pm at 185 polling centres across Thakurgaon Sadar and the newly formed Ruhia and Bhulli areas. Of the centres, 115 have been classified as highly risky and 70 as risky, prompting additional security measures.
The BNP has nominated Mirza Faisal Amin, the president’s younger brother, while Jamaat’s candidate is Mohammad Delawar Hossain, who was Fakhrul’s main rival in the 12 February general election.
Fakhrul won that election by nearly 98,000 votes, securing 2,38,836 votes against Delawar’s 1,41,017.
The contest is also a test for the government and the Election Commission. Since the BNP came to power, Jamaat has lost by-elections in Bogura-6 and in the delayed election in Sherpur-3, alleging vote rigging in both cases. The Thakurgaon contest, however, has drawn greater attention because it involves the president’s vacated seat.
Fakhrul assumed the presidency on 21 August, after which the constituency was declared vacant. The Constitution requires a by-election within 90 days of a seat becoming vacant.
Campaigning has seen allegations and counter-allegations from the rival camps, but the overall law-and-order situation remains normal, according to election officials.
Returning Officer Md Kamrul Islam told TIMES that a large number of law enforcement personnel had been deployed to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election. Election Commission observers were collecting information from the field, while a central law-and-order monitoring cell had been established at the commission.
Around 3,000 members of police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Ansar and other security forces, along with executive and judicial magistrates, have been deployed for the election.
The constituency has 5,15,853 registered voters: 3,27,677 in Thakurgaon Sadar, 82,658 in Ruhia and 1,05,518 in Bhulli. A total of 3,152 polling officials, most of them government employees, are overseeing the vote.
Counter-allegations
On Wednesday, Jamaat candidate Delawar Hossain accused BNP campaigners of trying to influence voters by distributing money and promising government benefit cards.
He alleged that BNP workers were offering Tk500 to Tk1,000 to voters while distributing voter slips. He also accused them of promising family cards, agricultural cards and old-age and widow allowances to secure votes.
Delawar said he had lodged complaints with the returning officer and a judicial inquiry committee but had received no effective remedy. He warned that a failure to hold a fair election could undermine public confidence ahead of the next local government elections.
Poygam Ali, chief election agent for BNP candidate Faisal Amin and general secretary of the district BNP, rejected the allegations, saying the election environment was good and his party had no reason to influence voters.
He accused Jamaat of making false allegations because it feared defeat, claiming that its candidate had faced embarrassment while campaigning in some areas.
The BNP, he said, trusted voters to decide the outcome.
Test for government and EC
Islami Andolan Bangladesh has also described the by-election as an important test for the government and the Election Commission.
In a statement on Wednesday, the party’s joint secretary general Sheikh Fazle Bari Masud called the election a “litmus test for the government”, saying it would indicate whether future local government elections under the administration could be held freely, fairly and impartially.
He warned that the use of force, electoral fraud or attempts to manipulate the result could further destabilise the political situation.
Election materials were sent to polling centres under tight security from Wednesday morning. Ballot papers, ballot boxes and other supplies were handed over to presiding officers at Thakurgaon Government Boys’ High School field from 10am before being transported to the centres under security.
Election Commission Secretary Akhter Ahmed said the election atmosphere was good and there was no reason for concern.
He expressed confidence that the vote would be fair, adding that the commission had established a monitoring cell at its headquarters to oversee polling-centre conditions, law and order and the overall conduct of the election.
Three other candidates are contesting the by-election: Abdul Alim Nizami of Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, with the banyan tree symbol; Md Khademul Islam of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, with the hand fan; and Husain Muhammad Omar Faruk of Bangladesh Congress, with the water lily symbol.
