Jamaat-e-Islami on Thursday alleged widespread irregularities in the Bogra-6 and Sherpur-3 by-elections, claiming that vote rigging, fake voting and the expulsion of polling agents undermined the fairness of the polls.
At a press briefing at the party’s central office, Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said a number of serious violations took place during voting, including ballot stuffing and the forced removal of agents from polling centres.
He protested the incidents and demanded action from the authorities.
Porwar said their candidate in Sherpur’s Sreebardi had passed away earlier, while local party leader Rezaul Karim, secretary of Sreebardi upazila, was beaten to death ahead of the polls, creating tensions in the area.
“I visited the constituencies for three days on the 4th, 5th and 6th on behalf of the party. We received alarming reports. Our leaders and activists were not allowed to enter polling centres, and there were signs of intimidation,” he said.
Referring to Bogra, he alleged that presiding officers in several centres forced polling agents to sign result sheets in the morning, which he said violates election rules.
“The rule is that all candidates sign the result sheet after voting ends. But in some centres, signatures were taken in advance, while fake votes were cast and agents were later driven out,” he claimed, citing Maltinagar Government Primary School as an example.
He also alleged that by noon, agents had been forcibly removed from at least 13 polling centres in Sherpur, where fake votes were cast.
Porwar further claimed that when party members tried to resist such activities at a polling centre in Islamia Kamil Madrasa in Sreebardi municipality, local political activists entered the centre, expelled their agents and assaulted a Jamaat youth leader.
Despite repeated complaints to law enforcement agencies and election officials, he said, no effective action was taken.
He also alleged that supporters of rival candidates intimidated voters, including women, and obstructed them from going to polling stations.
Expressing concern, Porwar said the situation raised questions about the credibility of future elections.
“We are bringing these irregularities to the attention of the chief election commissioner and urge legal action against those responsible,” he said, also calling for re-polling in centres where serious violations occurred.
He warned that failure to act could lead to public rejection of the election results.
Earlier, polling in both parliamentary seats started at 7:30am and continued until 4:30pm without any break.
On February 24 last, the EC announced the election schedule for the two constituencies.
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman contested the February-12 general election from two parliamentary constituencies – Bogra-6 and Dhaka-17, and he was elected from both seats. But Tarique Rahman vacated Bogra-6 and kept Dhaka-17.
Besides, the EC on February 4 last cancelled the election to the Sherpur-3 constituency, following the death of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Nuruzzaman Badal.
