Editorial
Gathering bitterness over Bhola-3 by-election
Nothing should be done to undermine fairness of the voting
MUCH heat is being generated over the forthcoming by-election for the Bhola-3 constituency. The by-election, scheduled for 24 April, has already come under a cloud with the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP accusing each other of trying to foil the election or engineering a result that will favour either one of them. Leading figures of the Awami League have charged the BNP with creating the ground for chaos if the opposition candidate does not win the by-election. For their part, senior politicians of the BNP have consistently warned that the ruling party is engaged in a ploy to deprive the opposition nominee of victory at the polls. To substantiate their arguments, they have pointed to the instances of violence which have marred the campaigning of the BNP's Hafizuddin Ahmed. Indeed, the BNP election coordinator Nazimuddin Alam came under attack allegedly by Awami League activists last week. The AL has rejected the charge and has instead suggested that the BNP itself orchestrated the attack as a way of undermining the voting.
None of this is helping the situation any. And if fingers are to be pointed at any quarter for the increasing ferocity of the charges and counter-charges, one cannot deny that the government has through its attitude and handling provoked the situation. The ruling party, by making it obvious that it has to win the election (and it has done that through organizing rallies of an inordinate nature in the constituency and sending its senior figures out to campaign for its candidate) has clearly given enough fodder to the opposition to step up the intensity of its propaganda against the ruling party. Indeed, the BNP has gone a step further and has noted that the Election Commission's refusal to deploy the army on the day of the by-election is essentially an implementation of the government's agenda. The bitter nature of the campaign has thus been unfolding day by day and has patently created the feeling among people that the mud-slinging now going on may well lead to a rather worrying situation once the results of the voting are in. It is a possibility that must be rolled back if indeed the future of pluralistic democracy is to be made more secure in Bangladesh.
We believe that as a first step toward reassuring the country that the Bhola-3 by-election will be transparent and beyond question, the government must stop interfering or be seen to be interfering with the voting. The EC has already held a meeting attended by the candidates of both the AL and the BNP in Bhola and has asked them to assist it in conducting a fair election. As far as we can see it, the EC has taken the necessary measures, through deploying the Rapid Action Battalion, to ensure the fairness of the voting. It is now for the parties to go a step further to see that a decent election is held. The ruling party must desist from intimidating the opposition. It cannot afford a Magura (remember 1994?) in reverse. On its part, the BNP must check the temptation of treating the by-election as a springboard toward creating unrest on the streets rather than reactivating its politics in Parliament. Public confidence in electoral democracy will erode if the voting is interfered with.
Let it be for the voters of Bhola-3 to decide who they wish to represent them in the Jatiyo Sangsad.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
India’s ‘push-in’ strategy violates international law
9 hour(s) ago
Editorial
Why build roads through a reserved forest?
20 June 2026, 13:00 PM
Editorial
An alarming report on children’s exposure to climate risks
19 June 2026, 19:07 PM
Editorial
Why is safe water inaccessible for millions despite rising spending?
19 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
BB must confront bad loans’ true scale
18 June 2026, 18:38 PM
Editorial
Comments