Sahara Khatun, one of the former telecommunications ministers of Awami League government, spent a busy day yesterday planning “counter resistance.”
The 10th national elections are scheduled to begin in the morning today, under an ongoing hartal by the opposition alliance, which has vowed to resist the polls at all costs.
Sources said Sahara was busy the whole day with political activists, chalking out plans for the election day. She reportedly gave instructions to her supporters to resist if anybody wanted to create obstacles for voters trying to reach polling centres.
Some Awami League activists were also borrowed out from other areas to her constituency.
Compared to her campaigns in the 2008 elections, Sahara has done almost nothing this time. In 2008, she started her campaigning one month before election and in the last 10 days, she went to different wards every day and campaigned from early morning to night. She also attended at least eight to 10 meetings daily.
Many residents of her constituency, Dhaka 18, said they did not see her or any other known face from her campaign come seek votes. Others said she was most likely to win as they did not even know the other candidates.
In her constituency, Sahara attended only a big rally when the prime minister went to Rabindra Sarani near Azampur bus stand in Uttara.
Like Sahara, some other Awami League candidates also spent their last day chalking out plans to create a suitable environment so that voters feel safe at the polling centres.
Awami League candidate Kamal Ahmed Mojumdar of Dhaka 15 told the Dhaka Tribune he had planned to counter any efforts to stop the election.
“If anybody tries to create obstacles for voters we will resist them. All our supporters are ready to resist them,” he said.
When asked whether this counter-resistance might create a violent situation, he said, “We will counter the opposition to give security to voters.”
Ekhlas Uddin Molla, an independent candidate from Dhaka 15, said he was worried about the environment of poll centres.
“Both the Awami candidate and the opposition are threatening to resist each other. Those who are contesting independently like me, are afraid,” he said.
