Low turnout, irregularity allegations mark Bogura-6 by-polls

The Bogura-6 by-polls recorded a voter turnout of 29.67 percent by 2:00pm today, according to the returning officer’s office.

A visit to eight polling centres in the constituency since morning found a low number of voters. There were no queues, and the festive atmosphere typically associated with elections was largely absent. Both male and female voters were seen arriving sporadically to cast their ballots.

Around 2:30pm, 84-year-old Mazfujar Rahman from the town’s Fulbari area arrived at the Bogura Government Azizul Haque College (Old Building) centre. “I didn’t see many people when I arrived,” he said.

“I cast my vote peacefully, but there seems to be very little public interest in this by-election,” he added.

Voting began using paper ballots at 7:30am and is scheduled to continue until 4:30pm. Polling is underway across 150 centres in the Bogura-6 constituency.

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84-year-old Mazfujar Rahman from the town’s Fulbari area cast his vote at the Bogura Government Azizul Haque College (Old Building) centre. Photo: Mostafa Shabuj

Around 11:30am, at the Bogura Maltinagar Government Primary School centre, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Abidur Rahman raised several allegations of irregularities to journalists. He complained of intimidation of Jamaat polling agents and workers by supporters of the BNP candidate, forced signing of blank result sheets in advance, and alleged election engineering by presiding officers.

Presiding Officer Nurul Islam of the Maltinagar centre was accused of taking signatures from agents on result sheets prematurely.

When asked, he claimed, “The polling agents signed the result sheets early of their own volition to ensure results could be delivered on time. I have since torn up those sheets.”

Returning Officer Fazlul Karim told The Daily Star that all complaints had been investigated. “Most of the allegations were found to be untrue,” he said.

However, he confirmed that a show-cause notice has been issued to one presiding officer and one assistant presiding officer, seeking explanations for their conduct.

Three candidates are contesting the Bogura-6 by-polls: Rezaul Karim Badsha (Bangladesh Nationalist Party), Abidur Rahman Sohel (Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami), and Md Al-Amin (Bangladesh Development Party).

The constituency has a total of 454,043 registered voters, with an additional 3,736 registered for postal ballots.