The By-election to Lakshmipur 2 constituency as well as regular polls to 204 Union Parishads (UPs) and two municipalities are underway on Monday amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The voting began around 8am and will continue till 4pm.
Election Commission Joint Secretary and Director of Public Relations SM Asaduzzaman said all preparations have been taken to hold the elections in a peaceful manner.
The Lakshmipur 2 constituency fell vacant on January 28 after independent MP Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul was sentenced by a court in Kuwait for criminal offences involving moral turpitude.
The election to the UPs and the Lakshmipur by-polls were scheduled for April 11 but they were postponed due to the worsening pandemic situation.
The regional election officer of Comilla is acting as the returning officer of the Lakshmipur 2 by-polls.
According to a recent gazette issued by the Parliament Secretariat, Papul became ineligible to remain an MP under the Article 66 (1) of the constitution as he was sentenced by a Kuwaiti criminal court to four years’ rigorous imprisonment.
Also Read- Voting in 204 union parishads, Lakshimpur 2 by-polls on Monday
Papul is currently in a Kuwait jail after he was arrested there in June last year on charges of human trafficking, residency visa trading and money laundering.
Our Gazipur correspondent reports that the voting in six union parishads of Kaliganj upazila is going on peacefully.
A long queue of voters was seen outside the polling stations in the morning.
UNB’s Barisal correspondent reports that balloting in 50 UPs is underway with low voter turnout due to inclement weather.
Senior District Election Commissioner Mohammad Nurul Alam said no untoward incident was reported till filing of this report around 11am.