BNP alleges eroding level playing field, warns of ‘controversial’ polls process

BNP today alleged that the level-playing field is being eroded in multiple ways, raising the risk of a controversial election process.

The party said leaders and activists of other political parties are repeatedly violating the electoral code of conduct, while the Election Commission’s inaction remains a matter of concern.

“People expect that every political party will get equal opportunity through a level-playing field. But sadly, over the past few days, we have seen that the level playing field is being eroded in various ways, and a controversial election process is taking shape,” said BNP’s Central Election Steering Committee Spokesperson Mahdi Amin at a press briefing at the party’s Gulshan office.

He said it has been observed that a particular party is continuously exploiting religious sentiments to gain political advantage.

“The same political party are going door to door and collecting people’s national identity card numbers and bKash numbers, which indicates dishonest intentions,” he added.

Mahdi, also adviser to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, further said videos had earlier gone viral on social media showing that hundreds of ballot papers were in the possession of activists of a particular party in several Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

“Organised voting is completely illegal. In some places, one person’s postal ballot paper is being collected using another person’s number, which is unacceptable,” he said.

“Expatriate [Bangladeshi] voting is being held for the first time. We want fairness and equality to be ensured in the voting process for them as well,” he added.

Mahdi also expressed concern over the design of postal ballots, alleging that the BNP’s electoral symbol, the sheaf of paddy, has been placed lower on the ballot, making it difficult to locate.

“Even when the paper is folded, the sheaf of paddy symbol is not clearly visible... Meanwhile, the symbols of rival political parties have been strategically placed in positions where they are clearly visible,” he said.

Alleging unequal treatment, Mahdi said several political parties are openly seeking votes for their candidates and party symbols through various programmes and online platforms.

He said that when Tarique Rahman planned to visit some districts in the northern region on a personal trip, the Election Commission requested that the personal and religious visit be postponed.

“Respecting that request, he cancelled his scheduled tour. But other parties and leaders are continuing to violate the code of conduct regularly,” he said.

In this situation, the BNP has demanded the formation of a fact-checking cell under the Election Commission as soon as possible, said Mahdi.

He added that the BNP’s ICT wing has removed more than 50 fake IDs and pages that were spreading confusion through deepfake and AI-generated videos.

He also said, “Many fake Facebook pages have been opened using the name of BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman’s wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman. These pages are spreading false and fabricated AI-generated videos. We want to make it clear that Dr Zubaida Rahman does not have any social media account or page,” he added.