Voting Under Way in Thakurgaon-1 By-Election: Nine Polling Officials Withdrawn the Night Before, Five Candidates in 185 Centres
Voting is under way today, Thursday (October 29), in the by-election for the Thakurgaon-1 (Sadar, Ruhia and Bhulli) constituency. Polling began simultaneously at 8 a.m. at 185 centres across the seat's three upazilas and will continue without a break until 4 p.m. Election materials were sent to the centres beforehand amid tight security.
Nine polling officials in this constituency were withdrawn on the night before the vote, according to published reports. News of the withdrawal has been a talking point across the constituency on polling morning.
Thakurgaon-1 has a total of 515,853 voters. Of them, 257,219 are men, 258,630 are women and four are third-gender voters. A total of 287 voters have registered to vote by postal ballot — 249 men and 38 women.
Five candidates are in the final contest — Mirza Faisal Amin of the BNP, Delawar Hossain of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party unity, Hafez Dr Khademul Islam, Md Abdul Alim Nizami and Husain Muhammad Omar Faruk.
The BNP candidate, Mirza Faisal Amin, is the brother of President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The background to this by-election is the presidential election. On August 20, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was elected the country's 23rd President, defeating the 11-party unity candidate, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chairman retired Colonel Oli Ahmad, by 255 votes. The Thakurgaon-1 seat fell vacant after his election as President, which is why this by-election is being held.
The nomination stage also had its drama. After scrutiny on September 29, the nominations of six candidates were declared valid. But on October 5, BNP district vice-president Md Obaidullah Masud withdrew his candidacy on a party decision, leaving five in the final contest.
Strict security arrangements are in place at the polling centres. Alongside the police, members of the Special Response Battalion (SRB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Ansar and Village Defence Party are on duty in the field. Law enforcement agencies are on alert so that voters can exercise their franchise without hindrance.
The Election Commission (EC) has said all necessary preparations have been taken to complete polling fairly and impartially. A monitoring cell has been set up at the Election Commission Bhaban in Agargaon, Dhaka, to observe the overall situation; the cell will monitor the polling centres, the law-and-order situation and the management of the vote.
On Wednesday, the day before the election, the BNP and 11-party unity candidates levelled counter-allegations at separate press conferences. Their statements have stirred discussion in the election field. Law enforcement agencies are, however, working to keep the overall situation under control.
Continuous voting until 4 p.m. will decide who becomes the new Member of Parliament for Thakurgaon-1.
