BNP fears vote rigging in Ctg by-polls

With Chattogram-8 by-polls around two weeks away, BNP has expressed fears of vote rigging.

Party candidate Abu Sufian filed a complaint with the returning officer on December 26 in this regard after an Awami League lawmaker boasted of taking control of polling centres at an in-house meeting on Wednesday.

The election is slated to be held on January 13. The constituency fell vacant due to death of lawmaker Moin Uddin Khan Badal on November 7. Badal, also executive president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, was elected lawmaker with the “boat” (Awami League) symbol from the constituency in three consecutive polls, between 2008 and 2018.

On Wednesday, Abu Reza Muhammad Nizamuddin Nadvi, lawmaker from Satkania (Chattogram-15), at a meeting organised as part of election preparation at Awami League candidate’s residence in city’s Lalkhan Bazar bragged that he himself took control of seven polling centres in the 2015 city corporation election, apparently indicating that he would repeat the same in the upcoming election.

He also said they will ensure that AL candidate wins the election. Awami League nominated Moslem Uddin Ahmed, president of Chattogram district (south) unit of AL, as a candidate for the by-polls.

A video recording of the meeting went viral on social media. This newspaper has also obtained a copy of that.

Meanwhile, Abu Sufian in his written allegation said there could be massive vote rigging as AL activists are planning to flex their muscles to gain control over the voting centres.

“This is inflicting fear among people and raising questions on how fair the voting will be,” he said. Sufian urged the returning officer to take steps to ensure a safe environment for voters on election day.

“It’s unfortunate that a lawmaker, who is supposed to uphold the law, said something like this,” Sufian told The Daily Star yesterday. “Now it’s up to the Election Commission to show how true they are to their words and hold an election free of fear and intimidation,” he added.

Asked, Returning Officer Muhammed Hasanuzzaman said the BNP candidate did not contact him over the issue. “I cannot confirm whether he complained or not,” he added.

Lawmaker Nadvi and AL candidate could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

In the constituency (Boalkhali-Chandgaon), six candidates are contesting the polls. A total of 4,75,988 voters are expected to exercise their franchise through electronic voting machines, said Election Commission officials.