Chief Organiser (Northern Region) for the National Citizen Party (NCP) Sarjis Alam cast his vote standing in line with his father and brother at the Bamankumar Rakhaldevi Hat Adarsha High School centre in Atwari upazila at around 8:30am on Thursday. During this time, Sarjis also exchanged pleasantries with voters.
After casting his vote, Sarjis told journalists, “I voted in a festive atmosphere for the 11-party’s Panchagarh-1 constituency symbol, the “shapla kolshi”. I voted ‘Yes’ in the popular vote. I hope we – all the political parties – after an uprising, at the cost of thousands of martyrs’ lives, with much hope for change in this Bangladesh, have voted for a new democratic journey. We will get a fair election. Let us place our trust in the people’s vote, in the people’s opinion.”
He added, “May a fair, transparent, and impartial environment be maintained at every polling centre. We expect the utmost professional conduct from everyone involved in vote-taking: Polling officers, presiding officers, returning officers, assistant returning officers, and members of law enforcement agencies. We believe, insh’allah, if all political parties can show that minimum bit of generosity in this regard, a fair election is possible. The biggest factor here is the tolerant behaviour of the leaders and activists of all the political parties.”
Turning to the 11-party alliance’s rivals, Sarjis said, “Over the past few days, in the Panchagarh-1 constituency, we have seen BNP leaders and activists from various places creating obstacles and issuing threats. We have seen them creating an environment of fear and intimidation. We expect that, at least on this election day, no kind of undesirable behaviour will occur. Let us not have to lodge complaints against anyone in this election.”
“If the free and fair environment that has existed since morning continues until the afternoon, then I am optimistic about victory,” Sarjis Alam said. “However, we will not allow anyone to win this election by influencing votes on Tuesday.”
Meanwhile, at the Bhajanpur Fakhrunnesa Fazil Madrasa polling centre in Tetulia upazila of the district, BNP-nominated candidate Nawshad Zamir cast his vote.
