Ruling Awami League’s three aspirants, two from the 14-party alliance and one independent contender won elections on Wednesday as voting took place in six parliamentary constituencies.
The Election Commission organised the by-polls to six parliamentary seats that fell vacant after BNP MPs resigned in December as part of their strategic decision involving the anti-government movement ahead of the next general elections expected to be held early next year.
In Chapainawabganj-2, Awami League candidate Muhammad Ziaur Rahman confirmed his victory by securing 94,928 votes.
His nearest contender Mohammad Ali Sarkar, an independent candidate, got 25,399 votes with the symbol of an ‘apple’.
AL-backed Md Abdul Wadud defeated independent candidate Samiul Hoque with a margin of 3,658 votes in Chapainawabganj-3 constituency.
Wadud, also general secretary of the district unit AL, got 59,638 votes while Samiul secured 55, 980 votes.
Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer AKM Galib Khan announced the results around 9 pm.
In Bogura-4, the 14-party-nominated candidate AKM Rezaul Karim Tansen won from the constituency with the symbol of Torch by securing 20,405 votes.
His closest opponent Ashraful Hossain Alam alias Hero Alam got 19,571 votes. Alam was defeated by only 834 votes.
AL candidate Ragebul Ahsan won from the Bogura-6 by bagging 49,336 votes while his nearest contender and independent candidate Abdul Mannan got 21, 864 votes.
Independent candidate Advocate Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan, also an expelled leader from the BNP, won from Brahmanbaria-2 constituency by 44,916 votes.
Jatiya Party’s candidate Abdul Hamid Bhasani got 9, 635 votes while independent candidate Abu Asif Ahmed, another expelled leader of BNP, got 3,269 votes.
Thakurgaon-3, Jatiya Party’s Presidium Member Hafiz Uddin secured 84,047 votes, defeating his nearest candidate Principal Gopal Chandra Roy, an independent, with a margin of 33,738 votes.
Gopal got 50,309 votes and 14-party-backed candidate and former lawmaker Yeasin Ali captured 11,356 votes.
A total of six candidates contested in the by-election there.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Wednesday said the average voter turnout in the by-election in six parliamentary seats may be 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
"The average voter turnout in the election may be 15 per cent to 20 per cent. It is our primary assumption, not a final estimate. Though the presence of the voters was low in the polling stations, discipline was maintained at the voting centres during elections," he said.
He made the remarks while talking to journalists after monitoring the by-polls at the Election Commission Bhaban in the capital's Agargaon.
Electronic voting machines (EVMs) were used in the by-elections, said SM Asaduzzaman, Joint Secretary of the Election Commission.
However, no CCTV cameras were installed in the polling centres, he added.
Forty aspirants contested in the six constituencies.
Earlier on December 10, 2022 at a public rally, parliamentarians of BNP announced their resignation. On December 11, Chapainawabganj-2 lawmaker Md Aminul Islam, Bogura-4 lawmaker Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Bogura-6 lawmaker Golam Mohammad Siraj, and Thakurgaon-3 lawmaker Zahidur Rahman resigned from Parliament.
Two other BNP lawmakers — Advocate Abdus Sattar of Brahmanbaria-2 constituency and Harun-or-Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3 — resigned from Parliament later.
