Moinul Hoque Chowdhury
Bhola, Apr 24 (bdnews24.com) — Bhola-3 by-elections began Saturday amid small-scale violence and allegations of preventing voters and agents from approaching polling centres.
But authorities claimed the voting was going on peacefully.
At least six people were injured during a clash between the supporters of the ruling Awami League and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, witnesses said.
The violence occurred outside Kishoreganj Primary School centre at Farazganj union when the supporters of ruling party candidate Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shaon allegedly attacked the supporters of BNP candidate Hafizuddin Ahmed.
But the other parts of Lalmohan-Tajumaddin constituency were peaceful after the voting started at 86 polling centres at 8 am.
Polling is set to end at 4pm, and 234,926 voters are expected to exercise their right to elect their representative to the parliament.
Meanwhile, Hafizuddin alleged in the morning that many of his polling agents were being prevented on the way to the centres.
After voting at Lalmohan High School centre at 8.30am, Hafizuddin told reporters that he came to know that his agents had even been ousted from at least four centres.
"The ruling party hooligans are creating obstacles to prevent my agents and voters from coming to centres," he said.
His claim could not be verified immediately, but bdnews24.com correspondent reported that he found no BNP agents at two centres of Lalmohan.
A team of BNP leaders led by BNP standing committee member MK Anwar met the Chief Election Commissioner Shamsul Huda in Dhaka and told him that in 37 centres there were no polling agents representing BNP.
Returning officer Nuruzzaman Talukder said he had no knowledge of such incident, but, he said, authorities could not allow any agent who has no valid documents.
"We cannot allow anybody as agent who cannot show his identity and other valid documents," Talukder said.
Rafiqul Islam, a BNP agent at Azhar Ali School and College at Lalmohon area, told a roaming bdnews24.com correspondent that the ruling party supporters have snatched away national ID cards and other documents from some of the BNP agents when they were approaching the centres. Rafiqul's claim could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, the ruling party contender said people were streaming towards polling centres without any major disruption as "they (the voters) are ready to exercise their right to vote".
Some voters said they were ready to vote.
"Nobody obstructed me to come to vote," said Nazimuddin Tipu, who was in a queue of about 50 people outside Lalmohon Islamia Kamil Madrassa centre.
"People seem curious about casting their votes, I guess," the thirty-eight –year-old man said.
A woman called Fatema, who came with her child to the centre, told bdnews24.com, "I didn't face any problems on the way here."
"I am feeling good," she added.
However, Babul, with a bandage around his head, claimed that he was attacked by some BNP supporters at Binodon Bazar.
M Sakhawat Hossain, an election commissioner, on Saturday morning, told bdnews24.com that all necessary preparations for a free and fair election had been ensured.
He said by phone: "We're contacting the election officers persistently. All the officials, including the returning officers have been asked to take necessary measures to ensure a fair election."
With the Election Commission declaring 52 centres as vulnerable, the authorities have deployed 3,500 law enforcers in the constituency. The administration has also installed a number of security measures including closed circuit cameras while some 40 EC officials were deployed as observers in plainclothes along with magistrates.
The EC declared the Bhola-3 constituency vacant after finding the elected MP Md Jasim Uddin's candidature invalid.
Jasim was sent into forced retirement from the army, as a major, in 2004 but electoral laws do not allow a person holding public office to contest in elections within 5 years of leaving the service.
BNP's Hafiz Uddin Ahmed may be considered a stronger contender having carried the seat in 1991 (44.9 percent votes) as an independent and winning in 1996 (with 59 percent of the votes) and in 2001 (with 65.8 percent votes).
However, he lost in 2008 with 45.7 percent votes while the AL candidate won with 52.8 percent.
bdnews24.com/corr/jr/1206 hours
