BNP lays siege to DC office demanding vote recount in 2 Pabna constituencies

The BNP did not accept the results of the elections in the Pabna-3 (Chatmohar-Bhangura-Faridpur) and Pabna-4 (Ishwardi-Atgharia) constituencies.

In protest, their leaders and activists besieged the offices of the deputy commissioner and district returning officer from Friday afternoon, demanding a recount of votes.

According to the district returning officer's office, a total of eight candidates contested in the Pabna-3 constituency.

As per the unofficial results, Jamaat's candidate Muhammad Ali Ashgar won with 147,475 votes. His closest rival, BNP's Hasan Zafir, received 144,206 votes.

Meanwhile, in the Pabna-4 constituency, Jamaat's candidate Md Abu Taleb Mondal received 137,675 votes. His closest competitor, BNP's Habibur Rahman, secured 133,875 votes.

Conversations with locals and eyewitnesses revealed that BNP leaders and activists expressed their anger after the announcement of these results at night.

After Friday prayers in the afternoon, they began moving towards the deputy commissioner's office from the two electoral areas. By 4pm, several thousand BNP leaders and activists had gathered in front of the office and started their protest. They shouted various slogans against Jamaat and demanded a recount of votes.

During this time, the law enforcement agencies took a strong position at the deputy commissioner's office to maintain order. The army, RAB, BGB, and police were deployed.

Assistant Commissioner Abdul Alim stated that the deputy commissioner met with the candidates from both constituencies. The deputy commissioner will inform the Election Commission about their demands. Following this, at around 7 PM, the protesters left the district commissioner's office.

The agitating BNP leaders and activists stated that there were discrepancies in the vote counting information in both electoral areas, the number of canceled votes was unusually high, many polling agents were forced to sign result sheets, and there were inconsistencies in the center-wise vote count. Therefore, they are demanding a vote recount. If their demands are not met, they will announce tougher programmes.

Habibur Rahman, BNP's candidate for the Pabna-4 constituency, said, "The voting count was completely fraudulent. We do not accept this result. We are demanding a recount of the votes."

Efforts to contact deputy commissioner and District Returning Officer Shahed Mostafa for comments on this matter were unsuccessful.