Low turnout, yet again

The fourth phase of upazila parishad elections yesterday saw sporadic violence and irregularities in a number of places.

The voter turnout in the 107 upazilas that went to polls this time was low as in the previous three phases.

Voting was suspended in all the 46 centres in Cumilla's Titas upazila following allegations of ballot stuffing and vote rigging.

Besides, 12 centres in five upazilas of three districts saw polling suspended over the same allegations, Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said at a post-polls briefing.

He claimed that the elections, by and large, were peaceful and fair.

According to results provided by the returning officers at 12:15am today, Awami League-nominated chairman candidates emerged victorious in 37 upazilas. The party's rebel contenders won in 24 upazilas.

Independent candidates secured victory in three upazilas, a Jatiya Party (Manju) contestant in one upazila and a BNP rebel in another upazila.

So far a total of 108 chairman candidates have been elected unopposed -- 39 in the fourth phase and 69 in the previous three phases. All of them are from the AL, according to the EC.

Of the 492 upazilas in the country, 480 are scheduled to go to election in five phases this year. Polls were held in 78 upazilas in the first phase on March 10, 116 upazilas in the second phase on March 18, and 117 upazilas on March 24 in the third phase.

The EC secretary said elections in 30 to 40 upazilas will be held on June 18 in the fifth and final phase.

Yesterday, The Daily Star correspondents visited around 120 polling stations in 22 upazilas.

In Munshiganj, two persons, including a rickshaw-puller, suffered bullet injuries in a factional clash among AL men in Sadar upazila's Dewanbazar.

The two are Md Faisal, 32, supporter of the AL rebel candidate in the upazila, and Ruhul Amin, 45, a rickshaw-puller.

Supporters of the AL-nominated chairman candidate and the party's rebel contender clashed a few minutes after voting ended.

At one stage, a supporter of the AL candidate fired shots at a follower of an independent candidate, but missed the target and hit the duo, Jayedul Alam, superintendent of police in Munshiganj.

They were in a critical condition and sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Shaibal Basak, emergency medical officer at Munshiganj General Hospital.

In Gazaria upazila of the district, miscreants snatched ballot papers and boxes during voting at three polling stations.

In Narayanganj, an independent chairman candidate, three vice-chairman contenders and three female vice-chairman contestants boycotted the polls, bringing allegations of vote rigging by supports of AL candidates.

At least 10 people, including two policemen, were wounded in Brahmanbaria as two AL factions clashed over casting of fake votes at a polling station in Sadar upazila's Sarail Prata Bazar area around 3:45pm.

Several shops were vandalised and looted.

In a separate incident, miscreants blasted cocktails at Brahmanbaria Government College centre in Sadar upazila around 11:00am, creating panic among the voters. No one was injured.

Visiting Konaur Government Primary School centre in Nabinagar upazila, it was found that only 196 of the 2,029 votes were cast till 12:00pm.

At the same polling centre, Amjad Hossain, polling agent of the AL-nominated candidate in the upazila, alleged that he was barred from entering the centre.

In the meantime, a presiding officer was detained over negligence in duty at Kandapotol Government Primary School centre in Dhamrai Upazila.

The presiding officer, Abul Bashar Badsha, is head teacher of Amshimur Sheshif Model High School in Dhamrai and also Jatiya Party-backed vice chairman of Saturia upazila parishad in Manikganj.

Executive Magistrate Pranab Kumar Gosh said Bashar did not inform the returning officer concerned that one of the polling officers at the centre was absent during voting.

Besides, it appeared that there were some anomalies in casting of ballots at the centre, mentioned the magistrate.

Taking all these into consideration, the presiding officer was detained and handed over to the local judicial magistrate concerned, he told The Daily Star.

The polling centre was found to be almost empty around 2:00pm.

Seeking anonymity, one of the polling officers said 600 to 700 votes had already been cast at the centre that has 1,200 voters.

In Tangail, nine people, including an election official, were detained by law enforcers at different polling stations for their alleged involvement in casting fake votes.

The polls official, Assistant Presiding Officer Parvin Sultana, was discharging duties at Basail Dakkhinpara Government Primary School centre in Basail upazila.

In Patuakhali, a mobile court sentenced three persons to seven days' imprisonment for their involvement in vote rigging at two polling stations in Mirzaganj upazila.

Elections were held peacefully in Jashore, Feni and Noakhali amid low voter turnout, report our correspondents.

Many voters suffered due to technical problems in electronic voting machines at several centres in Feni Sadar upazila, as the machines could not recognise their fingerprints.