C T Online Desk: Mohiuddin Bacchu, the ruling Awami League’s candidate for Chattogram-10, says he expects a strong turnout in the parliamentary by-election and is confident about his chances of winning the seat.
Voting began in the constituency of around 475,000 voters at 8 am on Sunday, and will continue until 4 pm without a break.
Even before the polls opened, at least 15 voters were seen queuing up at the New Tigerpass Govt Primary School centre.
Bacchu, a former convenor of the ruling party’s youth front Jubo League, arrived at the centre at 8:15 am to cast his vote. “I have cast my ballot and other voters are waiting in line to cast theirs. I hope more voters will show up as the day progresses,” he said.
The BNP, which boycotted all elections over the last year, has also opted out of this by-poll. A total of six candidates, including two independents, are vying for the seat.
Experts believe ensuring a decent voter turnout is the biggest challenge facing the authorities as the by-poll is taking place only five months before the general election.
“Voting is taking place in a peaceful environment. I urged voters to show up and cast their ballots, and they’ve listened to me,” Bacchu said.
“I heard that there were issues with the electronic voting machines in some places and have asked the polling agents to contact the presiding officers so that voters don’t face any difficulty in casting their ballots.”
Recent elections have mostly favoured the Awami League candidates, and Bacchu is hoping that the trend will continue in Chattogram as well.
“Voting has just begun and voters are gradually turning up. The election environment is quite good here,” said Chattogram City Awami League General Secretary AZM Nasir Uddin.
Abul Kalam, former vice president of Lalkhan Bazar Awami League, said he faced no difficulty in casting his vote. “I came for the sake of the party and cast my vote without any issue.”
Another voter, Abul Khair, said he came to vote before going to work and found the election environment to be good.
The centre with six polling booths has 2,319 registered voters, according to Presiding Officer Md Nazmul Huda.
Asked about the reported issue with the voting machines, he said, “A voter had pressed the finger-matching button hard and the machine froze for a bit. Later, it was fixed and worked well,” he said.
Jatiya Party candidate Md Shamsul Alam said he accompanied his wife to the Alor Jhuti Primary School Centre in Halishohor, where she cast her vote. “I didn’t see any line of voters there as the turnout was quite low.”
“Voters are scared that they will be driven out of the centre, so they’re not showing up. Let’s see what happens. The voting is going well and we heard that the EVMs are working well so far.”
EVMs are in use in all 156 centres at the by-poll. In addition to the police, RAB and BGB personnel have also been deployed to maintain law and order.
Deepak Kumar Palit of the Trinamool BNP, Rashid Mia of Bangladesh Sangskritik Mukti Jote, and independent candidates Manzurul Islam Bhuiyan and Arman Ali are the other candidates in the election.
