Despite much resistance from opposition parties, with a demand to hold polls under a non-partisan caretaker government, the government did not budge and are holding the polls under the Election Commission.
In left, voters are lining up to cast their votes at the Bauniabadh Ideal High School under Dhaka-16 constituency. In the middle, an election official signing the back of a ballot paper before giving it to one of the voters. In right, voters were seen lining up at Abediya Government Primary School centre of Chattogram. Photos: TBS
The 12th national election began today with people queuing up outside polling centres, despite the ongoing hartal called by BNP-Jamaat and a few other political parties.
The polling which began at 8am today (7 January), will continue till 4pm.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cast her vote around 8:05am at Dhaka City College polling centre in Dhaka-10 constituency (Dhanmondi, Hazaribagh, New Market, and Kalabagan police station).
Low voter turnout in Dhaka-16 constituency
After visiting 10 polling centres in Dhaka-16 constituency it was seen that voter turnout was very low.
Jahidul Islam after casting his vote at Bauniabadh Ideal School polling centre.
In Bauniabadh Ideal School-1 Male polling station of the constituency, most of the candidates have no agents except for the AL candidate. Till 8:30am only one candidate of the “Ektara” (single-stringed musical instrument) symbol was found at the polling centre.
A voter named Ismail Hossain was happy to be able to cast a vote without facing any problems.
08:30am
Lower voter turnout in Dhaka-8 constituency during early hours
Shanti Bagh High School polling centre on 7 January 2024.
The Shanti Bagh High School centre under the Dhaka-8 Constituency did not see much presence of voters till 8:30am.
Only 15 voted in the first 30 minutes.
There are a total of 5,811 voters under this centre.
15-20 youths were seen to be present despite the absence of voters outside.
Most of them have a boat emblem around their neck.
A voter named Minu Akhter said, “I came early in the morning to vote. Earlier I used to see a lot of people during voting, now I went and voted alone and there was no rush. But so far the environment is fair.”
“My centre was shown as Shanratibagh High School, but could not vote even after 20 minutes inside. Officials inside the centre told to contact another nearby centre,” said a voter named Zaima Binte Jahangir.
A F M Bahauddin Nashim from AL is contesting from this seat with boat symbol. Other candidates for this seat are MA Yusuf with the Jute symbol and Md Zuber Alam Khan Robin with Plow Brand symbol.
8:06am
Polling begins in 16 Chattogram seats
Voting has commenced in 16 parliamentary seats in Chattogram at 8am today (7 January).
There are a total of 2,023 polling stations and 13,732 voting booths across the sixteen seats in Chattogram, according to the Election Commission.
Voters wait outside a polling station in Chattogram on 7 January 2024.
At 7:50am, voters were seen lining up to cast their votes at the Abediya Government Primary School centre of Chattogram.
However, at some centres, such as Kapasgola Government Primary School, Bakalia Shaheed NMJ Degree College, and Dr Khastagir Girls’ High School, there was a low turnover of voters.
8:03am
Voting continues in Rajshahi amid heavy fog
Even at 8 o’clock, the fog has not cleared in Rajshahi. Voters entered Rajshahi’s Taherpur Jam Village Government Primary School polling station after 8am.
Awami League nominated candidate of Rajshahi-4 Constituency Abul Kalam Azad entered this center and cast his vote.
Then, one by one, the voters entered the polling booth and voted. However, the number of male voters was higher than that of female voters.
8am
Polling begins in 3 Munshiganj seats
Voting for the three parliamentary seats in Munshiganj in the 12th national parliamentary elections started at 8am.
However, there aren’t many voters present at the polling stations yet due to the biting cold and dense fog. It is expected that voter turnover will increase as the day progresses.
There are 469 polling centres in Munshiganj’s three electoral seats, out of which 339 have been identified as high-risk by the administration.
Voters queue at a polling station in Munshiganj on 7 January 2024.
Additional members of law enforcement agencies are deployed at these high-risk centres.
Munshiganj-1 has 508,986 voters, with 261,848 male and 247,138 female voters. Munshiganj-2 has 352,433 voters, with 182,514 male and 169,919 female voters.
Meanwhile, Munshiganj-3 has 482,294 voters, with 249,888 male and 232,406 female voters.
Current situation
The country is under a security blanket with law enforcers deployed to maintain a peaceful atmosphere for the polls as the boycotting parties have called hartal or general strike on the election day urging people to stay away from voting.
Despite much resistance from opposition parties, with a demand to hold polls under a non-partisan caretaker government, the government did not budge and are holding the polls under the Election Commission.
Police help voters in Khastagir Govt Girls High School in Chattogram.
Leading up to the polls day, BNP-Jamaat along with a few other political parties called for repeated blockades and hartals. There have been numerous incidents of vandalism and arson, mostly in vehicles, during these political programmes.
This is a historic election year globally, with more than 60 countries representing half the world population – some 4 billion people – set to hold elections, starting with Bangladesh and including the other South Asian nations of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The independents equation
But the election is not devoid of excitement as in a new development in the country’s electoral history, the Awami League’s official nominees are facing tough challenges from the party’s own members contesting as independents.
In 80 to 100 constituencies, hard battles are expected between the AL candidates and the independents.
The ruling party nominated candidates are vying in the election with “boat” symbol in 266 seats, while the party is sharing 26 seats with Jatiyo Party and six seats with three partners of its 14-party alliance – three for Jasod, two for Workers’ Party and one for JP-Manju.
Mohammadpur Central University College.
Jatiyo Party nominated contenders are officially contesting in 265 seats. Of them, 26 are vying for the election as candidates of the AL-led alliance. However, some Jatiyo Party contestants have unofficially quitted the electoral race.
Out of 44 political parties registered with the Election Commission, 16 parties are out of the electoral race that has around 12 crore voters listed.
Though there are 300 constituencies, the EC postponed the election for Naogaon-2 constituency following the death of an independent candidate. A fresh schedule for the seat will be announced soon.
Security has been stepped up across the country after a series of arson, including a fire on a moving train, Benapole Express, on Friday night that left four people dead.
A total of 14 fire incidents were reported in 16 hours from 6pm on 5 January across the country, the Fire Service and Civil Defence said.
Some eight lakh security personnel have been deployed to maintain poll-time atmosphere by monitoring for violations of codes of conduct across the country.
