Hasnat Abdullah casts ballot in Cumilla-4, urges voters to turn out without fear

Voting opens in 1,491 centres in Cumilla district as men and women turn out in large numbers for parliamentary polls

Hasnat Abdullah, the 11-party alliance candidate for the Cumilla-4 constituency, has cast his vote and encouraged the public to exercise their franchise freely.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) leader joined the queue at Gopalnagar High School centre in Debidwar Upazila at 8am on Thursday to deliver his ballot.

Speaking after voting, Hasnat said no reports of disruptions had reached him so far. “We want to remain free from any kind of anxiety or violence.”

“Voting will be festive. People will cast their ballots freely without intimidation,” he added, recalling attempts in the past two days by those behind the July Uprising attacks to “disrupt” the electoral atmosphere.

In Cumilla-10, BNP candidate Mobashwer Alam Bhuiyan voted at the Nischintapur Government Primary School.

He described the polling environment as fair, urging voters to come confidently to the centres.

“We worked overnight on Wednesday to counter rumours. Voters should cast their ballots without fear,” he said.

Voting for both the parliamentary election and referendum has begun in Cumilla’s 11 seats without any untoward incident.

Polls opened at 7:30am at 1,491 centres across the district, where a steady turnout of male and female voters was visible.

More than 4.85 million voters in the district are set to choose their representatives.