Taimur urges all not to contest any election under the Awami League government

Taimur Alam Khandaker, who lost the Narayanganj mayoral race, has alleged ‘election engineering’ by the government and ‘election fraud through Electronic Voting Machines’, urging everyone not to contest any election under the present government.

“I’ll urge everyone not to run in any election where EVMs are used. I said earlier that it’s a technology used for theft. Now I believe that it’s a box that robs votes,” he said on Monday, the day after the election.

He complained about the slow pace of EVMs and the technical glitches experienced by voters.

“People stood in line for a long time and then became irritated. They tore their voter slip and went back,” he said about the slow voting process on Sunday.

In many places the machines hanged, while they never even worked in others, he said.

Taimur, whom the BNP removed from its advisory council for defying the party’s orders and running in the Narayanganj city election, lost to Salina Hayat Ivy of the Awami League by a margin of 67,000 votes.

She is now set to stay on as Narayanganj mayor for a third consecutive term.

Taimur said the decisions by some political parties to boycott the polls was justified.

“No fair election can be held under this government and when EVMs are used. The candidate whose name is selected by the Bangabhaban or Ganabhaban will be elected,” he said.

IVY ‘UNHAPPY’ OVER SLOW EVM VOTING

Salina Hayat Ivy, who was elected mayor of the Narayanganj City Corporation, has expressed her discontent over the slow speed of voting on EVMs.

Ivy said the ‘slow working pace’ of the EVMs led to long queues after polls opened at 192 centres on Sunday.

It affected the voter turnout, Ivy told the media on Monday.

“EVM is a new technology. It may cause some problems. I have been saying this from the very beginning that the voting was very slow. Female voters living on the other side of the river couldn’t cast their votes properly. If they had, the turnout would have been higher,” she said.

She expressed her gratitude to the people for choosing her. She also thanked Allah for allowing her to serve the people for five more years.

“I can work now. I can complete the ongoing mega projects,” she said.

The Awami League leader said she would seek suggestions from everyone to run her office.