The Election Commission is yet to take any action over allegations that many union parishad chairman hopefuls were barred from filing nominations for the March 22 polls.

Many BNP candidates and Awami League rebels faced threats, intimidation and physical assault from ruling AL men in Pirojpur, Satkhira, Jhalakathi, Barguna and Khulna when they tried to file nominations at the returning officers' offices on February 22, the last day for submitting nominations, according to media reports.

EC statistics shows that the BNP did not field any chairman candidate in 70 UPs out of the 738 that will go to polls in the first phase.

Against such a backdrop, chairman and councillor aspirants of another 670 odd UPs are set to file nominations today, the last day for submitting nominations for the second phase of the UP elections (March 31).

Elections to the rest of the around 2,800 UPs will be held in four more phases until mid-June.

The EC did not probe the allegations saying those were not specific complaints. EC Secretary Sirazul Islam on Sunday said actions could only be taken in relation to specific allegations.

The commission in a circular yesterday said candidates of UP polls from now on can file nominations at the deputy commissioners' offices as well. Previously, the nominations could only be submitted to the returning officers concerned.

Talking to The Daily Star, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz said the new move would minimise irregularities as the candidates would have an alternative office for filing nominations.

Although some election experts welcomed the EC's move, they observed that it was not enough to stop the irregularities.

Lauding the EC's initiative, Former election commissioner M Sakhawat said the commission should probe all the allegations of electoral irregularities and take actions if those were found to be true.

Eminent local government expert Dr Tofail Ahmed said the new move could be seen as a temporary measure. But removing the fear among the BNP and other independent candidates should be the top priority of the EC and the law enforcement agencies, he added.

M Hafizuddin Khan, president of Shushashoner Janney Nagorik (Shujan), a civil society platform, viewed that ensuring submission of nominations by all the candidates was a key prerequisite to holding fair polls. The EC should take prompt action if anyone obstructs any candidate from filing his nomination, he noted.

Election Working Group Director Abdul Alim said the EC should introduce an online nomination filing system for all elections.