Presence of voters thin, AL men dominate centres

Union parishad (UP) polls in 15 unions under Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas under Chittagong district were held amid thin presence of voters while no agent of BNP nominated candidate was seen in most of the polling centres.

Different polling centres in nine unions of Sitakunda upazila hardly showed any gathering of voters, report our correspondents Arun Bikash Dey and Minhaj Uddin from Chittagong.

Awami League (AL) activists and supporters, who were seen dominating the polling centres, hurriedly managed some people and lined them up after seeing newsmen.

Surprisingly, the number of cast votes was quite high.

Nur Hossain, presiding officer of Latifa Siddiqua Girls' College of No 3 Chhoto Kumira Union Parishad, said around 1,500 votes were cast out of 3,747 till 12:30pm.

Several presiding officers said no agent of BNP candidates came to them for reporting.

No poster of BNP backed candidates was seen anywhere in the areas.

Aslam Chowdhury, president of BNP's Chittagong (North) district unit, in a press conference at his Sitakunda house, alleged that the AL men drove all the agents of BNP candidates from the polling centres and cast fake votes afterwards.

He demanded that the Election Commission cancel the polls in all the 30 UPs in Sitakunda, Mirsarai and Sandwip upazilas under Chittagong and declare schedule for holding fresh election there.

Dr Setu Bhushan Das, returning officer of No 1 Syedpur and No 2 Baraiyadhala UPs, said, "Two BNP nominated candidates in the UPs gave application to the upazila nirbahi officer [UNO] to cancel the polls. "They also gave a copy of the application to me."

Nazmul Islam Bhuyan, UNO of Sitakunda, said, "I was not at my office and so, I do not know about the application. There is no scope to submit any application to me as I am not an official of the Election Commission." 

Our Correspondent Shahadat Hossain reports: The BNP nominated candidates in Mirsarai upazila have alleged massive irregularities and intimidation by the ruling Awami League candidates' men in yesterday's UP polls.

There was noticeable presence of supporters of the AL nominated UP chairman candidates around the polling centres.

But no gathering of the supporters of the pro-BNP chairman candidates was seen during visit to six polling centres in six unions under Mirsarai upazila.

"After observing casting of fake votes at different centres, I did not give vote," said Shahid Ahmed, BNP's chairman candidate in No 7 Katachhara UP.

M Habib Ullah, BNP nominated candidate of No 4 Dhum UP, said he could not cast vote as it had already been cast by someone else by the time he reached the polling centre.   

Seven BNP nominated chairman candidates, out of nine, could not cast their votes for various reasons including security problems, said Nurul Ameen, convener of Mirsarai upazila unit of BNP.

"Awami League men drove out the agents of the BNP chairman candidates from the polling centres and tore up their posters. We demand re-election in the nine UPs under the upazila after cancelling today's polls as people could not exercise their right to franchise," he said.   

Md Jashim Uddin, joint secretary of Chittagong (North) district unit of AL, refuted the allegations of the BNP leaders and said, "What can we do if the BNP's chairman candidates did not come to the polling centres?"  

Abu Sufian Biplob, AL's chairman candidate of the No 8 Durgapur UP, claimed that the BNP nominated candidates got frustrated after seeing the huge public support for the AL.  

Mirsarai UNO Zia Ahmed Sumon, who also coordinated the elections in the upazila, claimed that elections in nine union parishads were peaceful except for a few 'isolated incidents'.    

Asked about the allegation that the BNP nominated chairman candidates were 'driven out' from the polling centres, the UNO said, "I am yet to get any report from the presiding officers regarding that."

During a visit to Purbo Kismatpur Jafrabad Forkania Moktob polling centre under No 9 Mirsarai union for 15 minutes from around 11:30am yesterday, no voters were seen.

Abul Kalam Azad, presiding officer of the centre, said about 45 percent of 1245 votes were cast till 11:30am.

During visit to five other polling centres in five unions under the upazila, the presence of the voters was found to be very poor.