A presiding officer has alleged that the unusually large crowd at Ananda Nagar Adarsha High School polling centre in Dhaka-11 was “artificially created.” As of 11:30am, the average voter turnout across the school’s six polling centres stood at 23.96 percent.
On the ground, a heavy influx of voters was observed from early morning. Long queues stretched from inside the premises to well beyond the school compound.
MA Mohibur Rahman, presiding officer of centre No 86, alleged: “There should not be this many voters. The crowd is being artificially created. It may be done to prevent genuine voters from entering the centre,” he told TIMES.
He said he had already informed the magistrate about the situation and was assured that army personnel would be deployed if necessary.
According to him, from morning until 1pm, only a limited number of police and Ansar members were present at the centre, with no other law enforcement agencies deployed.
However, a different account was given by Md Monowar Hossain, presiding officer of centre No 90. He said voting was proceeding spontaneously and peacefully, with no disorder reported.
Rejecting allegations of mismanagement, he attributed the congestion to the narrow entry points. “There is no management problem. The entrance to the centres is simply narrow,” he said.
The contradictory statements from two officials stationed at the same school have raised questions about the actual situation at the venue.
Ananda Nagar Adarsha High School has a total of 19,290 registered voters, including 9,791 male and 9,499 female voters. The six centres are distributed as follows: Centre 85 has 3,149 male voters; centre 86 has 3,102 male voters; centre 87 has 3,085 female voters; centre 88 has 3,053 female voters; centre 89 has 3,540 male voters; and centre 90 has 3,361 female voters.
According to the respective presiding officers, turnout figures by late morning were as follows: Centre 85 recorded 22 percent turnout as of 11:30am, confirmed by presiding officer Md Mohsin Uddin.
Centre 86 recorded 29.6 percent turnout as of 12:30pm, according to MA Mohibur Rahman. Centre 87 recorded 29.18 percent turnout as of 11:30am, said presiding officer Wadudur Rahman. Centre 88 recorded 23 percent turnout as of 11:30am, confirmed by Abdur Rahman. Centre 89 recorded 18 percent turnout as of 11am, said Shafiul Alam. Centre 90 recorded 22 percent turnout as of 11:15am, according to its presiding officer.
Voters also described the heavy turnout. Mayen Ahmed told TIMES that people had come out in large numbers out of enthusiasm. At the same time, he noted that poor crowd management was increasing voter inconvenience.
Twenty-one-year-old voter Shafin said he observed similar congestion when he arrived at 8am. He claimed the situation had remained the same since the start of voting. Regarding the outcome, he said the result would ultimately depend on the choice of local residents.
