Chittagong-10 By-polls Underway

Voting for the Chittagong-10 (Doublemooring, Pahartali, and Halishahar) by-elections began at 8 a.m. on Sunday and will go until 4 p.m. using an electronic voting machine in 1,261 booths located at 156 polling places.

However, there hasn't been much of a turnout at the polls since early in the day. According to those involved, as the day goes on, there will be more voters at the center.

Voters were crowded in front of the Pahartali Railway Hospital Colony Primary School center in the city early on election day. The Awami League candidate's supporters were rearranging the voting line beside the Ansars. There were enough police officers stationed in the center. More women than males vote in the center.

Chittagong-10 constituency Returning Officer and Chittagong Regional Election Officer Muhammad Hasanuzzaman said: “Voting has started in the by-elections. All preparations have been made to make the elections fair. There are 2,110 EVMs for polling and 4,106 polling officers.”

“Eight executive magistrates and two judicial magistrates is on duty since Saturday till August 1 to maintain order in the elections. Besides, sufficient law enforcement personnel are deployed in the centre. The polling stations are being monitored through 1,407 CCTV cameras,” he added.

Five candidates are contesting the election. They are Awami League candidate Mohiuddin Bachchu (boat symbol), independent candidate Manjurul Islam Bhuiyan (rocket symbol), Jatiya Party candidate Md Shamsul Alam (plough symbol), grassroots BNP's Deepak Kumar Palit (golden fibre symbol) and Bangladesh Sangskritik Mukti Jote's Rashid Mia (stick symbol).

Six of the 14 candidates who gathered nomination forms for the by-election for this seat have turned them in, according to sources in the returning officer's office. One of them has had their nomination papers revoked, while the other five are still running for office.

There are 488,638 voters in this constituency overall. There were 239,677 ladies and 248,938 males among them. In addition, 23 transsexual people are registered to vote in this seat.

Following the declaration of this seat vacant due to the passing of former minister and member of parliament Dr. Afsarul Amin, the electoral commission released the timetable on June 8. By-elections are thus conducted on Sunday.

Chittagong-10 MP and former primary and mass education minister Dr Afsarul Amin died on June 2 while undergoing treatment. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2020. Since then, he was under treatment in various hospitals.