BNP candidate hopes for victory, Jamaat alleges no photo on presiding officer’s card

BNP candidate Mirza Faisal Amin and Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Delawar Hossain have cast their votes in the Thakurgaon-1 constituency by-election. They voted at their respective polling centers on Thursday morning shortly after voting commenced.

After casting his vote, BNP candidate Mirza Faisal Amin expressed hope of winning the election. Meanwhile, Jamaat candidate Delawar Hossain alleged that the presiding officer at a polling centre did not have a photograph on his identity card.

Mirza Faisal Amin, the candidate contesting with the sheaf of paddy symbol, voted at Thakurgaon Government Girls’ High School polling centre around 8:45am. Local BNP leaders and activists also accompanied him. He is the president of the district BNP and the younger brother of President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

After casting his vote, Mirza Faisal Amin said, “Of course, I hope to win. I will now visit the other polling centres to see the voting environment. I think voters will cast their votes in a festive atmosphere.”

Asked by journalists whether he had any concerns about the election, he said, “I see no reason to be concerned about the election.”

Delawar Hossain, the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate, voted at Hajepara Adarsha High School polling centre in the town around 8:30am. Local party leaders, activists and supporters were present with him.

Urging voters to go to the polling centres without fear and cast their votes spontaneously, he said, “Play your part in building the Thakurgaon you dream of by electing your preferred candidate.”

Speaking about the voting environment, Delawar Hossain said, “The person serving as the presiding officer at this polling centre has an identity card around his neck that does not have a photograph. As far as I have heard, the cards of the assistant presiding officers also do not have photographs. If there is no photograph on the card, how will we know that the person is who they claim to be? Someone else could cast a proxy vote. We are requesting the returning officer to look into the matter as soon as possible.”

Asked whether the election would be free and fair, the Jamaat candidate said it depended entirely on the government and those responsible for conducting the election. If they failed to ensure a fair and neutral election, none of the upcoming local government elections would be acceptable to the public, he added.

Delawar Hossain is a member of Jamaat-e-Islami’s central Majlis-e-Shura and assistant secretary of its Dhaka South city unit. He is contesting the election under the scales symbol.

According to the district election office, the Thakurgaon-1 constituency has 516,138 voters. Voting is scheduled to continue without interruption from 8am to 4pm today.

Five candidates are contesting the election. The other candidates are Khademul Islam of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, contesting with the hand fan symbol; Abdul Alim Nizami of Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, with the banyan tree symbol and Husain Muhammad Omar Faruk of Bangladesh Congress, with the green coconut symbol.

Many local voters believe the main contest will be between the BNP and Jamaat candidates.

Meanwhile, the returning officer withdrew nine polling officials assigned to the by-election last night over allegations that they had directly or indirectly supported the ruling party. Following the allegations, they were withdrawn and new officials were appointed in their places.

Thakurgaon District Election Officer and Returning Officer Md Kamrul Islam confirmed the withdrawals to the media around 11:00 pm yesterday. He said they had been withdrawn in response to various allegations and new officials had been appointed to fill the positions.

The list of withdrawn officials includes teachers from different educational institutions and a bank official. They are Masud Rana, assistant presiding officer at the Sabuj Government Primary School polling centre in Thakurgaon municipality, Zainal Abedin, assistant presiding officer at the Thakurgaon Government College polling centre, Julfikar Ali, assistant presiding officer at the Thakurgaon Road Girls’ High School polling centre; Farida Yasmin, assistant presiding officer at the Gopalpur Government Primary School polling centre; Sadekul Islam, assistant presiding officer at the Salandar Panchpir Danga Independent Ebtedayee Madrasa polling centre; Mohammad Ali Jinnah, assistant presiding officer at the Singia Munshipara Government Primary School polling centre; Obaidur Rahman, assistant presiding officer at the Daulatpur Soleman Khan Multipurpose High School polling centre; Shahadul Islam, assistant presiding officer at the Balapara Dual-Track High School polling centre and Abdul Jabbar, assistant presiding officer at the Barogram Alim Madrasa polling centre.