Awami League candidate Ripon wins Gaibandha-5 by-election

Fresh voting is held two and a half months after it had been suspended due to widespread irregularities

Mahmud Hassan Ripon, the ruling Awami League’s candidate for the Gaibandha-5 constituency, won the by-election two and a half months after it was suspended due to widespread irregularities.

The former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League bagged 78,276 votes, while his nearest rival the Jatiya Party’s Golam Shahid Ranju got 44,950, according to Returning Officer Faridul Islam.

Balloting through 952 electronic voting machines at 145 polling centres in the constituency with 339,000 voters was held from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on Wednesday amid intense cold, which affected early voter turnout. The voters started queuing as the day passed by.

The ‘situation was out of control’ during the Gaibandha-5 bypoll on Oct 12, 2022, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said, as live footage showed intruders forcing or influencing voters inside the booths. The Election Commission decided to act against more than 100 officials following an investigation.

The Gaibandha-5 election kicked off again amid strict monitoring. The authorities in Dhaka directly monitored the bypoll via 1,242 CCTV cameras, but this time they saw a different outcome.

“There are no vote robbers in the polling centres in Gaibandha. We haven’t seen any so far. No intruders. Voters were able to cast their ballots in peace,” Election Commissioner Rashida Sultana said at the EC office in Dhaka.

Rashida said there were no complaints about the EVMs and voting was smooth. “There were no irregularities. The situation was not the same as we saw last time.”

The use of CCTV cameras deterred those who tried to disrupt the polls, she said.

The constituency consisting of Saghata and Fulchhari Upazilas fell vacant following the death of Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah on Jul 23, 2022.