The Election Commission yesterday postponed the upazila parishad elections in Sreepur, Gazipur citing an absence of a conducive atmosphere to hold the polls in the area. The election was scheduled to be held on March 15.
“The Election Commission has decided to postpone the Sreepur upazila election due to the absence of a conducive atmosphere and election-related violence in the upazila,” Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz told reporters after a meeting at the EC secretariat in the capital.
Meanwhile, the commission has also urged ministers and parliamentarians not to attend any development project inaugurations or prize-giving ceremonies in poll areas as the EC received complaints about their participation in election campaigns.
“We urged ministers and MPs not to inaugurate or participate in prize-giving ceremony in the election areas. Those who violate the electoral code of conducts would face stern action against them by the commission,” Election Commissioner Md Shah Newaz told the Dhaka Tribune.
The commission also added that returning officers and magistrates have been asked to take legal action against anyone violating the electoral code of conduct.
Earlier on Sunday, a Bangladesh Chhatra League leader, who was shot during a clash between the supporters of an AL-backed chairman candidate and a rebel AL candidate in Gazipur on Saturday, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in the capital.
On March 7, activists of local Awami League and its affiliates laid a blockade on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Sreepur after RAB personnel had picked up upazila parishad chairman candidate Abdul Jalil.
A senior EC official said the commission had sent a letter to the deputy commissioner of Gazipur and the home ministry to take legal action against the violence that occurred in Sreepur.
This is the first time the commission has postponed an upazilla election after the fourth phase of the upazila parishads began.
The official also said elections for 81 upazilas would be held on March 15 as the High Court stayed the polls of Fenchuganj upazila.