Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will continue its participation in the next phases of Upazila (UZ) Parishad polls in spite of bringing allegation of massive rigging of votes and capturing of polling centres during the third phase of election that was held on March 15.
“We are trying to build resistance against vote rigging, stuffing of ballots and capturing of polling centres by ruling party musclemen. We want the people to judge the roles of both the government and the Election Commission (EC) and how do they deal with the next phases of polls on March 23 and 31,” BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told The Independent yesterday. He alleged that chairman posts of 25 to 27 UZs have totally been snatched away from the potential BNP candidates while polling centres in 15 to 20 UZs were seized by ruling party cadres.
The BNP cited irregularities in different UZs including five UZs in Bagerhat district alone.
“Such behaviour of the AL have proved our fear about their actions during the last phase of UZ polls,” he said.
Rizvi also blasted the EC both at locally and centrally for what he said its total reluctance to their complains on the violence and vote riggings.
In this connection, he referred to the situation at Muladi and Babuganj in Barisal, Bhola Sadar and Monirampur of Jessore.
Another BNP joint secretary general Md Shajahan, one of the key leaders who monitor the UZ polls, observed that casting ratio of votes was as high as 90 per cent where polling booths were captured and ballot stuffing took place by the ruling party activists.
On the other hand, he said where the BNP-supported candidates won the polls the casting rate was about 50 per cent that showed how the polls were engineered by the ruling party cadres and officials.
The BNP leader said, the analysis of poll outcome shows that in how many UZs the government would have won if polls were held in a free and fair manner.
“Whenever the people got the opportunity to exercise their franchise freely vented their no-confidence against the government. Question arises now following this kind of activities of the government whether polls under it will be free and fair,” he said.
The BNP leader said they have benefited in both ways, by winning and unmasking the government’s real face how do they conduct the polls.
He further criticised the silence of the EC on their complains against violence and poll irregularities by the ruling party who launched a gauntlet of repressions in different places against the BNP activists.
Shajahan cited the ruling party cadres snatched victory of BNP-backed candidates like Daganbhuiyan of Feni, Chauddogram and Nangolcout of Comilla, Hajiganj and Kachua in Chandpur.
Out of available results of 78 UZs out of 81, the AL bagged 40 while BNP 27, Jamaat 5 and rest others. Voting in some polling centres of three UZs have been postponed. – Staff Reporter
