Voting ends in crucial Bangladesh polls, counting begins

Dhaka: Bangladesh people on Thursday voted in the crucial general elections, marred by sporadic incidents of violence, to elect a new government to replace the interim administration which took charge after the fall of the Awami League regime in August 2024.

The voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.

The voting began in 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies across the country from 7:30 am (local time) amid tight security and continued until 4:30 pm. However, in places where voters were inside the polling station, the voting will continue until they vote.

The counting of votes has already begun in many places.

The election in one constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a candidate.

The election is seen as a direct contest between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its once ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina's now disbanded Awami League. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' interim government last year disbanded the Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.

Election Commission Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said around 48 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 2 pm nationwide, state-run BSS news agency reported.

Nearly 127 million voters were registered to cast their ballots across 42,779 polling centres in 299 constituencies nationwide.

The top leaders of Bangladesh's two major contending parties, as well as chief adviser Yunus, cast their ballots early in the day.

BNP chairman Tarique Rahman, who cast his vote at the Gulshan Model School and College centre in Dhaka's upscale Gulshan area, said the poll results will be accepted if the election is held in a free, fair and neutral manner.

"If the election is held in a free, fair, impartial manner and without controversy, then why shouldn't we accept it? We will accept it. However, of course, there is one condition that the election must be impartial and peaceful. If the people cast their votes, there can be a democratic beginning in the country from today," he said.

Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami which is leading an 11-party alliance, cast his vote at the Monipur Uchcha Vidyalaya and College.

He said his party would accept the election results if the polls were held in a free and neutral manner.

"We want the results that will come through a fair process. If the vote is free and impartial, we will accept the outcome. Others must also accept it. That is the beauty of democracy. This is what we want," he said.

The Election Commission made elaborate security arrangements, deploying nearly 1 million security personnel -- the largest-ever in the country's electoral history.

There were reports of electoral violence in some places.

In Gopalganj, three persons, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured in an alleged hand bomb attack at a polling station, BDnews24 reported.

The blast occurred around 9 am at the Reshma International School centre at Nichupara. Two members of the Ansar, a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for election security, were among those hurt. The injured have been taken to a hospital.

Zahirul Islam, the presiding officer at the polling station, said the injuries were minor and that voting resumed shortly afterwards.

In a separate incident, a series of hand bomb explosions have taken place outside a polling station in the Munshiganj-3 constituency, temporarily disrupting voting.

The blasts occurred around 10:15 am in front of the Makhati Gurucharan High School centre. Between 10 and 12 crude bombs were detonated, officials said. Voting at the centre was suspended for around 15 minutes.

Presiding Officer Md Titumir said the explosions caused panic among voters.

"We stopped voting briefly, but it has now started again, and people are casting their ballots," he said.

Also, a BNP leader has died during an altercation with Jamaat-e-Islami activists outside a polling centre in Khulna.

The BNP says that he died when a Jamaat leader "pushed him" into a tree and hurt him. The Jamaat leader claims that the victim "fell ill" amid the unrest.

A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are contesting the election. The BNP has fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. There are 83 female candidates.

Yunus, who has promised to quickly transfer power to the elected government, voted at Gulshan Model School and College polling centre.

Nearly 900,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed to enforce the security vigil to prevent violence and maintain order during the voting. Authorities have deployed Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Rapid Action Teams (RATs) across key areas of the capital.

For the first time, drones and body-worn cameras were used for election security.

Some 55,454 observers from 81 local organisations have monitored the elections, while the number of foreign poll monitors was 394.

Of the international observers, 80 represent various international organisations, while the rest come from different countries, including independent European observers.

Three persons were arrested on allegations of distributing ballot paper photocopies among activists of a party at Kalai area of northwestern Joypurhat, Ittefaq newspaper reported.

The Daily Star reported "ballot stuffing allegations spark clash between Jamaat and BNP activists" in northeastern Sylhet's Balaganj subdistrict, where a local Jamaat leader and several others entered a polling centre at around midnight when BNP activists rushed in, resulting in scuffles requiring security interventions.

The BNP nominee there alleged that ballot stamping had begun at 11:00 pm with the presiding officer's help.

In Dhaka, police arrested a Jamaat leader for buying votes while crude bombs were exploded near seven polling centres in southwestern Gopalganj hours before voting.