The voters of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Cantonment on Monday elected Awami League candidate Prof Mohammad Ali Arafat, popularly known as Mohammad Arafat, as the lawmaker for Dhaka-17 constituency.
Returning Officer Monir Hossain Khan announced the unofficial results in the evening.
Prof Arafat became a lawmaker by winning against his closest rival by a margin of over 23,000 votes.
He received 28,816 votes while independent candidate and YouTuber Ashraful Hossen Alom, an YouTuber better known as Hero Alom, received 5,609 votes.
A total 37,420 votes were cast in the election with 325,205 voters in the constituency, amounting to a voter turnout of just 11.51%. Among the total votes, 383 were declared illegal.
Other recent by-polls had seen similarly low voter turnouts, but recent city corporation elections in Gazipur and some other areas had seen it rise as high as 40-60%.
The Dhaka-17 by-polls were the first ballot-based polls that the Election Commission monitored through CCTV cameras. The commission had set up 853 CCTV cameras at the 125 polling centres.
The voting in the by-polls started at 8am and continued till 4pm in a very peaceful manner, except at the last moment when Hero Alam was assaulted by a group of people at the Banani Bidya Niketon School. Another independent candidate, Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan (Truck symbol) boycotted the polls two hours into the voting.
The Dhaka-17 constituency, consisting of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, and a portion of the Dhaka Cantonment, fell vacant following the death of actor and AL MP Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque.
It holds the distinction of being the most affluent constituency in the capital.
A total of eight MP candidates contested the by-polls: Mohammad Arafat (Boat), Hero Alom (Ektara), Major (Retd) Sikder Anisur Rahman (Plough), Kazi Md Rashedul Hassan Rashed (Rose), Major (Retd) Sheikh Habibur Rahman (Sonali Aash), Rezaul Islam Swapan (Green Coconut), Mohammad Akhter Hossain (Chari) and Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan (Truck).
Intermittent rain discouraged many voters from going to centres in the morning.
It was the first election for Prof Arafat, who became a member of the Awami League's Central Working Committee in January. On the other hand, Hero Alom has contested several by-polls since last year.
What the candidates said
At 11am, Prof Arafat went to the Gulshan Model School and College to exercise his franchise.
He said he was confident of securing victory after casting his vote.
“I have been trying to bring voters to centres from the beginning of my campaign. As this by-poll is only valid for six months, many voters may find it less desirable. However, I want everyone to come to the centres and exercise their franchise,” he added.
After exercising his franchise at Shishu Mangal Adarsha Government Primary School in Dhaka Cantonment around 9am, Jatiya Party candidate Sikdar Anisur Rahman expressed satisfaction with the election atmosphere and said he would win Dhaka-17 by-polls if everyone came to cast ballots.
Hero Alom was not eligible to vote in the constituency as he is from Bogra. During visits to the polling stations in the morning, he alleged that several of his polling agents were harassed at the Banani Model High School polling centre.
Banani Model High School polling centre Presiding Officer Mahbubul Alam denied the allegations.
Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan, another independent candidate and chairman of Jonotar Adhikar Party, boycotted the Dhaka-17 by-polls less than two hours after the start of balloting.
He announced his decision while talking to the reporters at Banani Model School centre yesterday morning.
Tarikul, who was contesting the polls with the electoral symbol “Truck”, said: “Fair elections are not possible under this government, it has been proved once again. So, I decided to withdraw from this election.”
He alleged that his polling agents were “obstructed” from entering polling stations.
“None of my agents were allowed to enter polling stations. Awami League leaders and activists have created a hostile situation outside the centres; even police are obstructing my people from entering the polling centres," he claimed.