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Published : 12 Nov 2020, 09:30 PM
Habib Hasan running with the ‘boat' symbol has taken the Dhaka seat vacated with the passing of Sahara Khatun, while Tanvir Shakil Joy won his father's Sirajganj constituency.
The result for Dhaka-18 seat was unofficially announced by Returning and Dhaka Regional Election Officer GM Sahtab Uddin around 8:30pm on Thursday, within four hours of ballot casting in the electronic voting machines or EVMs.
Across 217 voting centres, Habib secured 75,820 votes, while his closest rival, the BNP candidate SM Jahangir Hossain got a measly 5,369 votes.
The BNP complained of violation of code of conduct during the voting process which was held without fanfare. The Election Commission, however, refuted such allegations.
Among the other candidates, Gana Front's Kazi Md Shahidullah polled 126 votes, Md Omar Faruk of the Bangladesh Congress drew 91 votes and Md Mohibullah Bahar of Pragatishil Ganatantrik Dal got 87.
According to Assistant Returning Officer Md Nazrul Islam, only 81,818 voters, a meagre 14 percent of as many as 577,188 voters, turned up for this by-poll amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The Dhaka-18 constituency comprises Dhaka North City Corporations No. 1, 17, 43 to 54 wards and the airport area.
Former home minister Sahara died on Jul 9, while her party presidium colleague and former health minister Nasim passed away on Jun 13.
The result for Sirajganj-1 ballot came in after 10 pm and was announced by Returning and Rajshahi Regional Election Officer Md Faridul Islam.
Assistant Returning Officer Abul Hossain said a total of 188,793 voters, comprising 51.76 percent of as many as 364,764 voters, turned up for this election across 171 centres.
Joy polled 188,325 votes, while his opponent Selim Reza from the BNP drew a paltry 468 votes.
Earlier, EVMs were used in by-polls to Dhaka-10, Dhaka-5 and Naogaon-6 seats before the coronavirus pandemic broke out. It was used in two by-elections on Oct 17.
Only 5.28 percent of votes were cast in the Dhaka-10 by-polls which used EVM machines. The figure was 10.43 percent in Dhaka-5 and 36.49 percent in Naogaon-6.
Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda blamed the political parties for the low turnout of voters.
