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Gaibandha-5 by-polls Wednesday

UNB . Gaibandha
03 Jan 2023 15:03:25 | Update: 03 Jan 2023 22:04:25
Gaibandha-5 by-polls Wednesday
— UNB Photo

The by-election to the Gaibandha-5 constituency, which was suspended due to irregularities, will be held on Wednesday.

On October 12 last year, the Election Commission (EC) suspended the by-election due to ‘rampant irregularities’ on the election day and later the commission fixed January 4 for holding the polls.

Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and deputy speaker of parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold an election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. Accordingly, it was scheduled for October 12.

Elections will be monitored through CCTV cameras as before while voting will be held through electronic voting machines (EVMs) from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

A three-member committee was formed to look into the election irregularities on October 12.

Following the recommendations of the committee, the Election Commission took punitive actions against 133 officials, including an additional deputy commissioner, five sub-inspectors and returning officer of the election.

The candidates of the Gaibandha-5 by-election are — Awami League candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon, Jatiya Party candidate AHM Golam Shaheed Ranju, Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam, and independent candidate Syed Mahbubur Rahman.

The constituency consists of Saghata and Phulchhari upazilas and 3,39,743 people will exercise their franchise.

Election materials, including EVMs, were sent to 145 polling centres on Tuesday.

Returning Officer Abdul Motaleb and Assistant Returning Officer Kamrul Islam were present.

The police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Ansar members will remain deployed to hold the election peacefully, Motaleb said.

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