Thousands of men and women, some on crutches or in wheelchairs, queued patiently for hours at polling centres across the country

Around 40.9 percent of voters had cast their ballots in five constituencies of Dhaka by 2:00pm, according to the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner (DC) office.

Turnout in the first phase of Union Parishad elections was about 74 percent, says Election Commission Secretary Sirazul Islam.