AL leader defends ballot rigging by people wearing ‘boat’ badges

The number of votes cast was 0.61 per cent as of 9:00 am Monday at a polling centre of Gulshan Model School and College, where ruling Awami League candidate in the Dhaka-17 by-election Mohammad A Arafat cast his vote. The vote casting increased to 3 per cent by 11:45 am. Following this abnormally low voter turnout in the by-election, some people wearing badges of “boat” (electoral symbol of Awami League) entered the polling centre after 2:00 pm. Suddenly, the percentage of votes cast surged to 10 per cent at 3:15 pm.

There were five polling centres at Gulshan Model School and College. Mohammad A Arafat cast his vote at Centre 63. The total number of voters at the polling centre was 2,588. The number of vote cast in the first hour was just 16, the number rose to 83 by 11:45 am while it was 278 at around 3:00 pm.

Prothom Alo correspondent did not see any queues since the polling started at 8:00 am. People who came to cast their votes did not have to wait at all. But the people with 'boat' badges who were waiting in front of the Gulshan Model School and College, started entering the centre after 2:00 pm in separate small groups of three or four people. They left after casting their votes.

Some polling agents of 'boat' came out of the polling centres and made phone calls saying “we need food”. After a while, some people in groups of two or three people entered the centre. Those people were also seen casting votes.

Gulshan thana unit Awami League organising secretary Ferdous Kabir was in charge of coordination of the polls activities of AL candidate at Centre 63. Speaking about ballot rigging, he told Prothom Alo that Awami League candidate Arafat A Rahman was the voter of this centre. That is why this centre was challenging for him.

When this correspondent asked him about the votes cast at this centre being more than other four centres of Gulshan Model School and College as people with 'boat' badges had entered the centre, Ferdous Kabir smilingly said, “Show me a place where this does not happen. This happens even in the union parishad election.”

He, however, said they could not completely work according to their own liking as the election commission was monitoring the voting through CCTV from the commission’s office.

While leaving the centre, an elderly voter told Prothom Alo, “Everyone inside the centre are people of 'boat'. They are doing everything as per their wishes.”

Speaking about ballot rigging by people wearing 'boat' badges, the centre’s presiding officer Babul Chandra Saha told Prothom Alo, “I didn’t notice.”

At Centre 64 of Gulshan Model School and College, the number of votes cast as of 3:00 pm was 260 (10 per cent). The number of voters at the centre was 2,589. The number was 148 as of 12:00 pm. Only 20 votes were cast there in the first hour.

The number of voters at Centre 65 of Gulshan Model School and College was 2,539. Only 116 people cast their votes there as of 3:00 pm (4.56 per cent). The number was 45 (2 per cent) until 12:00 pm.

Only 90 persons (2.87 per cent) exercised their franchise rights as of 3:00 pm at Centre 66 of Gulshan Model School and College where the number of voters was 3,129.

The number of voters at another centre (centre no. 67) of Gulshan Model School and College was 3,058 but only 90 votes (2.94 per cent) were cast until 3:00 pm there.

The number of total voters at Gulshan Model School and College was 13,903. Of them, only 834 people exercised their franchise rights as of 3:00 pm with a voter turnout rate of 5.99 per cent.

* The report has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza