Voters expressed satisfaction with the festive environment, with long queues seen at polling centres since Thursday morning, including a notable turnout of female voters.
The voting in the 13th parliamentary election began at 7:30am and will continue until 4:30pm.
Mazibor Rahman Sarwar, BNP candidate for Barishal-5 constituency, cast his vote at Syedur Rahman Government Primary School at 11:30am.
After casting his vote, Mazibor told reporters, “The voting environment is fair. People are going to the polling stations to vote. So far, no untoward incident has occurred anywhere.”
He added that if voting continues in this manner, he is hopeful of 100 percent victory.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Faizul Karim, Islami Andolan Bangladesh candidate, cast his vote at Rupatalee Government Secondary School around 8am.
Following his vote, Faizul Karim said, “There should be no ‘engineering’ regardless of who the people vote for.”
While noting the environment was good, he remarked, “Nothing can be said until the results are out.”
At 9am, Manisha Chakraborty, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) candidate, cast her vote at Barishal Government Girls’ High School.
Morover, BNP candidate and freedom fighter Abul Hossain Khan cast his vote at Krishnakathi Jobetonnessa Government Primary School around 9:45am.
Presiding Officer appointed to the centre said that voting is being conducted in a fair and peaceful manner. To ensure a smooth process, a large number of police, ansar, and BGB personnel have been deployed, with additional security measures taken at vulnerable centres.
A total of 36 candidates are contesting and 833 polling centres across the six constituencies in Barishal. The district has a total of 22,84,978 voters, consisting of 11,19,093 women and 11,36,467 men.
