Awami League-nominated candidate Noman Al Mahmud has unofficially won the Chattogram-8 by-polls on Thursday.
Noman (boat symbol) is set to become a lawmaker after securing 67,205 votes, and defeating his nearest rival Bangladesh Islami Front's Sehab Uddin Muhammad Abdus Samad (candle symbol), who bagged 5,087 votes.
Returning Officer and Chattogram’s regional election official Md Hasanuzzaman announced the results of the polls around 8:15pm.
Voting in the by-polls to Chattogram-8 constituency began at 8am and continued uninterrupted till 4pm with the help of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in 190 polling stations.
No untoward incidents were reported during the by-polls. The seat became vacant after the death of Awami League MP Moslem Uddin Ahmed.
Three other candidates competing for this seat were – Islamic Front Bangladesh's Syed Muhammad Farid Uddin with chair symbol, National People's Party-NPP's Md Kamal Pasha with mango symbol, and independent candidate Mir Md Ramzan Ali with ektara symbol.
BNP, one of the largest parties in the country, did not field a candidate in the by-election. With eight months left for the national elections, there was no heat in this by-election.
Election office sources say the constituency has 5,17,652 voters. Among them, 2,63,543 are men and 2,54,109 are women.
