By-polls to Bogura-1, Jashore-6 seats tomorrow

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DHAKA, July 13, 2020 (BSS) – By-polls to Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 parliamentary seats will be held tomorrow as the voting begins at 9am and continue till 5pm without any break to elect new parliament members from the vacant seats.

Polling will be held at 79 centres in Jashore-6 (Keshabpur upazila) while around 2.03 lakh eligible voters will exercise their rights to franchise in the by-polls, Keshabpur upazila election officer Md Bazlur Rashid told BSS.

In Bogura-1 constituency (Sariakandi-Sonatola), a total of 3,30,918 eligible voters will be able to exercise their voting rights in 123 polling centers. Of the total, 1,77,355 voters are in Sariakandi upazila and 153,563 in Sonatola.

Five candidates are vying in the by-polls in Bogura-1 constituency. Late AL leader and lawmaker Abdul Mannan’s wife Sahadara Mannan got the party ticket to run the race while Principal Moksedul Alam from Jatiya Party, Md Rony from Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), Nazrul Islam from Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon and independent candidate Yasir Rahmatullah Intaj are contesting the by-polls.

BNP candidate Ahsanul Toiab Zakir quitted the race as per the party decision.

In Jashore-6, district Awami League general secretary Shahin Chakladar got the party ticket to contest the polls while Abul Hossain Azad and Habibur Rahman Habib got nominations from BNP and Jatiya Party respectively.

But later, BNP decided not to join the by-polls, so now only AL and Jatiya Party candidates will contest.

Jashore-6 seat fell vacant as Ismat Ara Sadeque, former state minister for public administration, died on January 21 while Bogura-1 constituency remained vacant since its MP Abdul Mannan passed away on January 18 last.

Earlier, the Election Commission (EC) had announced schedule for by-polls to Bogura-1 on March 29 and Jashore-6 on March 31. But the EC postponed the by-polls to both the constituencies in the wake of deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

Due to constitutional bindings, later on July 4, the commission issued a notification rescheduling the date for the by-elections in the two seats on July 14.

Earlier on July 6, the EC announced general holiday tomorrow for Bagura-1 and Jashore-6 on July 14 for the by-elections.

The EC also imposed a 24- hour general ban on all kinds of vehicular movements including baby taxi, auto-rickshaw, electric-run three or four wheelers called easy-bikes, pickup truck or covered van, tempo vehicles, taxicab, car and locally made microbus, jeep and truck from midnight of July 13 to midnight of July 14.

The commission also imposed a 72-hour ban on the movement of motorcycles from midnight of July 12 to midnight of July 15.

The ban will be relaxed for contesting candidates, their polling agents, local and international election observers (having identity cards) after getting permission of the respective returning officers.

Vehicles carrying local and international journalists (having ID cards), government officials concerned, members of law enforcement agencies, election observers and emergency services like ambulance, fire service, electricity, gas and posts, telecommunications will remain out of the purview of the ban.

The commission also imposed a 24-hour ban on movement of all kinds of water vessels from midnight of July 13 to midnight of July 14 in the constituencies but for urgent needs, vessels would be allowed as per the permission of the returning officers or proper authorities.