Stepping into Chuadanga on Sunday afternoon, the first thing that stood out was the absence of “sheaf of paddy”, the electoral symbol of the BNP.

Only posters of the ruling party candidate Solaiman Haque Zoarder Selun and a few sporting the “hand fan” symbol of Islami Shasantantra Andolon and the “hurricane” symbol of Muslim League could be seen.

For a 200km stretch -- from Jashore to Kushtia, via Jhenaidah, Chuadanga-Meherpur -- the situation was the same.

In Chaudanga-1 constituency, comprising Chuadanga Sadar and Alamdanga upazilas, ruling party activists were campaigning in small groups. However, not a single BNP activist could be seen.

“Where is the BNP office?” this correspondent asked a tea stall owner. He pointed to a direction which led to an unassuming one storey building with no visible signs of being an office. There were no posters; not even of Md Sharifuzzaman, the Jatiya Oikyafront candidate. 

At the entry, a person introduced himself as Advocate Moniruzzaman, stepbrother of Shamsuzzaman Dudu, the BNP's central leader. He said the district BNP had rented out a portion of his house to use as the party office.

“But there are no activities here. All the election work is being conducted from Oikyafront candidate Sharifuzzaman's home,” he said.

Sharifuzzaman's house is a two-storey building with a large four-foot by two-foot banner, seeking votes for the “sheaf of paddy”, hanging in front of it.

Inside the house, piles of printed posters were gathering dust at a corner of the balcony.

This is also where a crowd of BNP activists could be seen.

Queried on why they were not hanging the posters, an Oikyafront worker said they had not gotten the chance to do so.

“Our workers cannot go to the field as ruling party men are attacking them. They even attacked my motorcade and injured the president of Jubo Dal,” said Md Sharifuzzaman.

Police are also filing cases against our activists, said Sharifuzzaman.

“Actually it seems as though we are contesting against the administration, not the Awami League. If the administration would not help them, they would not be able to stand in front of us,” he said.

Police have filed a total of seven cases against BNP men since the election commission announced the polls schedule. BNP men also filed three cases against AL activists, along with filing 12 complaints to the deputy commissioner alleging election code of conduct violations, he said.

“So we are waiting for the election day. We are not quitting…  If necessary, we will resist them,” Sharifuzzaman, a member of the district BNP convening committee said.

Another Oikyafront candidate, in Chuadanga-2, Mahmudul Hasan Khan Babu, had to leave his constituency for Dhaka due to oppression by ruling party men, he claimed.

However, when asked over phone, Babu said he had gone to Dhaka for some work and would return the next day. 

The AL candidate, Selun, denied allegations of using force against the opposition.

“I don't know whether the opposition is conducting their campaign or not; I am busy with my campaign,” Selun said.

The lack of pre-election festivity was glaringly present but more worrying was that the general people from Chuadanga and Meherpur seemed to have no interest in discussing the elections.

When this correspondent asked a grocer about the election atmosphere, he showed no willingness to discuss it or even try to guess who would win.

Another college teacher chose to speak but requested that his name not be published as he did not want “any trouble”.

“I do not want to talk in favour or against any of them,” he said.

On the way to Meherpur, at the banks of the Matha Bhanga river, trucks carried bauls singing songs inspiring people to vote.

Unlike Chuadanga, there were more BNP activists there.

Oikyafront candidate Masud Arun has been conducting election campaign from his office in College Road, Meherpur.

“In the town there is not much problem for our activists. But our campaigners are facing problems in the villages. Almost every day they are facing attacks by ruling party activists.

“I am conducting my campaign every day, but it has become a curse for my men. Police are arresting my people if they join my campaign.

“It seems my popularity is the reason behind the police repression on my party activists,” he said.

Arun alleged that in the last month, around 14 cases had been filed against thousands of BNP leaders and activists.

“They are even going the houses of BNP activists at night and arresting them. They [BNP activists] are not able to stay at home,” he said, adding that he hoped the police would play an impartial role in the coming days.  

He alleged that some police officers were arresting his men only for money. However, he did not raise allegations against his opponent Forhad Hossain Dodul, the candidate of the grand alliance led by AL.

When asked about Arun's allegations against the police, Md Mustafizur Rahman, superintendent of police in Meherpur, said they had rounded up only those who were accused in subversive cases filed earlier.

“We are trying to resist those who can cause anarchy during the election period,” he said. All of those arrested had records of creating anarchy in the past, he added.

“We have arrested many ruling party men who were involved in creating nuisance. But they never mention that.”

Faster internet service has been switched back on 37 hours into its suspension.

The 3G and 4G service have been resumed at 10:00am, a spokesperson with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) told The Daily Star this morning.

Most of the private telecommunications operators also confirmed about it.  

The services were switched off at 9:00pm on December 30 (election day) three hours after restoring the mobile internet.

During the period, people were not able to use the internet on their phones, stream or upload pictures or videos.

This the third time the telecom regulator shut down the 3G and 4G services in last two days.

According to the BTRC, there were 8.78 crore active internet connections in the country as of June this year and mobile phone connections accounted for 93.43 per cent.

As of November of 2018, over 6 crore people are currently using the 3G and 4G mobile internet.

According to BTRC data, there were 57.35 lakh broadband connections in November.

On December 26, the BTRC in a meeting with the International Internet Gateway representatives said social media sites, especially Facebook, would be blocked if needed.

BTRC in the night of the following day slowed down mobile internet by shutting down 3G and 4G services. However, the service was restored on Friday morning 10 hours into its suspension.

The national election of December 30 has turned the life of Mofiz Uddin upside down -- and all for supporting BNP.

From a decent tea-shop vendor at Rabeya market of Bonkishore village in Rajshahi's Tanore upazila, the 48-year old man now works on a potato field.

“I have been a dedicated BNP worker since the 90s,” Mofiz said. “If I have committed a crime, it would be my engagement with BNP.”

In a tin-roofed earthen room under a Koroi tree at the market, Mofiz started the shop and ran it for over the last 20 years.

Furnished with a television, eight chairs, five tables, four benches and a few racks of bakery items, sweets and groceries, his tea-shop fetched him around Tk 3,000 a day to support his family of seven.

On December 21, Mofiz joined the election campaign for BNP candidate Aminul Haq when the latter went to Pachondor union.

Later that evening, a group of stick wielding men went to the market and ransacked the outside of his tea-shop, according to eye-witnesses.

“The attackers were outsiders, not known to me,” said a local businessman.

“I heard about the attack on my shop when I reached home, after campaigning that day,” said Mofiz. A friend of his called him from the market and told him to hide as the attackers were looking for him.

Until polls day, local AL men used the tea-shop as the election office of Awami League candidate Omor Faruk Chowdhury.

“Two days after the election ended, some local AL workers damaged what was left of the shop, including the earthen room, tin-roof, furniture, television, and everything else inside.”

Locals told this correspondent that they heard the AL men would build a party office in that place.

When contacted, Reaz Uddin, president of AL unit at Pachondor ward-2, said, “We are yet to decide on building our office there. If not an office, we may construct a passengers' shed that will come to the use of many.”

He said the land was 'khas' and Mofiz had been illegally occupying it.

On the identity of the attackers, he said, “Nobody knows them. They were wearing helmets and came to the village on motorcycles.”

He denied that it was local AL men who had damaged the shop after the election.

“It was Mofiz's brother, nephew and son who damaged the shop,” he said. On why Mofiz's own relatives would damage the shop, Reaz did not have an explanation.

When contacted, Rajshahi Superintendent of Police Md Shahidullah said they had not heard about the incident.

“We will investigate all allegations of post-election violence,” said the SP, adding that police circulated a message in the district so that no one would spread fear among others over feuds during the election.

Upon losing his source of income, Mofiz began work as day labourer on the potato fields to make ends meet, earning a mere Tk 300 a day.

“I am living in fear. I could not even go see the condition of my shop, the one I so dearly built from scratch,” he said.