Dismissing BNP’s allegation, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has said a level-playing field is there in the elections to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation slated for February 1.
“A level-playing field prevails,” he said replying to a query from reporters over BNP allegation that there is no level-playing field in the elections.
The CEC’s remarks came after the delegations of two political rival camps -- Awami League and BNP -- met him separately at his Nirbachan Bhaban office on Monday, reports UNB.
The Awami League team, led by Co-chairman of the party’s National Election Conducting Committee HT Imam and the BNP delegation was led by its Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, met the CEC to lodge their respective complaints.
About the complaints placed by the two teams, the CEC said BNP complained that police are harassing their candidates. “But we saw no sign of such harassment. They (BNP delegation) said police did not record their case over the Gopibagh incident. But I later talked to the officer-in-charge concerned who told me that no BNP representatives turned up for filing any case,” he said.
When the BNP team told him that Awami League filed a case in this regard, the CEC said any aggrieved person can lodge a case if any criminal offence takes place. “It is a legal matter.”
Talking about the complaints lodged by the Awami League delegation, he said it blamed BNP for Sunday’s incident.
“The Awami League team said terrorist groups may enter Dhaka from different places outside the city and hamper the election process,” Nurul said, adding that it (Awami League) urged the commission to take measures in this regard.
Replying to a query, he said there is no apprehension of any deterioration in the law and order on the voting day.
Talking to reporters after the meeting with the CEC, Imam said BNP and Jamaat-Shibir cadres from outside Dhaka, being equipped with arms and weapons, took position at different points of the capital. “They might create a situation to foil the elections,” he claimed.
About the Awami League-BNP clash in Gopibagh, he said the allegation BNP brought about the incident is completely a planned and designed one.
Awami League team member Jahangir Kabir Nanak demanded that arson terrorists of BNP and Jamaat-Shibir should be brought to book immediately.
Earlier, Khasru told reporters at the Nirbachan Bhaban that though BNP candidates and supporters follow the electoral code of conduct, Awami League activists are not complying with it.
He also alleged that there is no level-playing field in the city elections.
