Voting In 3 Upazilas Of Bandarban Postponed

The Election Commission (EC) today decided to postpone the Upazila Parishad (UP) polling in Thanchi, Rowangchhari, and Ruma upazilas of Bandarban due to the joint operation of the law and order forces.

The Election Commission (EC) today decided to postpone the Upazila Parishad (UP) polling in Thanchi, Rowangchhari, and Ruma upazilas of Bandarban due to the joint operation of the law and order forces.

The decision was taken at the inter-ministerial meeting on the sixth upazila polls led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal at the Nirbachan Bhaban (election building) on Tuesday (April 23). An inter-ministerial meeting was held with the concerned secretaries in the election building.

After the meeting, EC Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam said that instructions were given in the meeting to the officials involved with law enforcement and administration to work in a coordinated manner. 

Among the significant decisions – more law enforcement officers will be deployed in upazila elections than in other local government elections. Due to the four-phase voting, the district-level concerned will be deployed as per the demand, he also said.

“The operations of the joint forces are ongoing in the hilly districts of Bandarban, especially in Ruma, Thanchi, and Rowangchhari; For the time being, the election of these three upazilas has been postponed. The new date will be fixed later at a convenient time,” said EC Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam.

Top officials of various ministries and organizations including four election commissioners, Public Security Division, public administration, police, BGB, and RAB were present in the meeting.

Mentioned that the polls were scheduled to be held in Rowangchhari and Thanchi on May 8. UP polls in Ruma, on the other hand, were scheduled to be held on May 21. Recently, a joint operation was launched against the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) in these upazilas.