Candidates backed by opposition parties in Khulna division fear that vote results may be rigged by the ruling party supporters at the municipal polls today.
A number of mayoral candidates from the BNP and Jatiya Party – and even some rebel candidates from the Awami League – have already been attacked by the members of the Awami League during electoral campaigns.
The opposition candidates also think there may be attacks and violence during the poll.
GM Abdus Sattar, BNP-backed mayoral candidate in Khulna’s Paikgasa municipality, claimed that the ruling party men were planning to take control of the voting centres and cast fake votes. “We are not getting any support from the local administration. So now we have decided to face it ourselves with the help of the people,” he said.
In Jessore’s Chougachha municipality, independent candidate SM Saifur Rahman claimed that followers of Awami League candidates had even hired criminals who are threatening the other candidates via SMS.
BNP candidate Selim Reza Awliar said: “We are in a difficult position as both the mainstream and the rebel candidates from the ruling party are planning to take control of the voting centres. Our supporters are not getting any opportunity to reach the voters.”
However, the Awami League candidates have refuted their rivals’ fear, terming it baseless.
Selim Jahangir, Awami League’s mayoral candidate in Paikgasa, said: “The opposition candidates are spreading rumours as they know they will definitely lose the polls. There is no scope for irregular activities; the law enforcers and people would not allow anyone to do so.”
Awami League candidate Nur Uddin Al Mamun Himel in Chougachha said: “These are baseless claims. They are simply afraid of losing the polls.”
However, Nazmul Ahsan, deputy commissioner of Satkhira district, told the Dhaka Tribune that his office was taking all necessary steps to ensure safe election so that voters would able to cast their votes at the voting centres.
Series of violence in Khulna division
There has been a series of violent attacks on the opposition candidates and their campaigns in Khulna division ahead of the municipal polls.
On Monday, a BNP-backed candidate in Bagerhat district’s Morrelganj municipality was attacked which left his wife, brother and six others injured, while the vehicle of an independent candidate was set on fire.
In Jessore, posters of BNP-backed candidates were set on fire in Monirampur on the same day. A BNP candidates office was attacked in Keshabpur while two rival groups of Awami League clashed in Chougaccha which left five individuals injured.
