Bangladesh Ansar headquarters has sent a letter to the Election Commission seeking Tk206 crores for maintaining law and order during the upcoming general elections.
The amount sought by the internal security force is likely to exceed the commission’s Tk500 crore udget for the 10th parliamentary polls.
Earlier, Bangladesh Police asked for nearly Tk150 crore from the EC for law enforcement duties during the polls.
The commission has earmarked Tk175 crores for 29 sectors for conducting the elections slated for January 5.
Besides, Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB), Coast Guard and Armed Force Division were yet to send in their requests for funds, EC officials said yesterday.
A senior official said the EC’s election budget is likely to cross the limit after getting proposals from all the law enforcing agencies.
In the 9th parliament elections, the commission’s total budget was Tk300 crore.
According to EC data, Tk49 crore was allocated for police and Rab, Tk70 crore for Ansar and Battalion Ansar, Tk 10 crore for BGB and Tk 10 crore for the armed forces.
EC officials said the budget for conducting the upcoming polls may decrease as 33 candidates are set to be elected unopposed. If Jatiya Party boycotts the polls, that number may rise to more than 100.
The commission would allocate funds constituency-wise where there will be more than one candidate after withdrawal of nomination papers on Friday.
