DHAKA, Feb 12 (BSS/APP): The voting in the country’s 13th parliamentary elections simultaneously with a referendum on the interim government’s reform package started nationwide at 7:30am on Thursday with people queuing up in lines to cast their ballots.
Witnesses said a tight security vigil was enforced in polling centres in the capital and elsewhere in 299 of the 300 constituencies in the country as the Election Commission (EC) canceled voting in Sherpur-3 seat following the death of a candidate.
“All-out preparations and extensive security measures have been taken across the country to stage the polls in a free, fair and peaceful manner,” Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told BSS.
He said nearly 900,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed to enforce the security vigil to prevent violence and maintain order during the voting and thereafter while 2,098 executive and 657 judicial magistrates were appointed to perform election duties.
The magistrates are on duty for five days starting from Tuesday.
The election pits Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) against Jamaat-e-Islami as the main contenders while the event is expected to end the 18-month rule of Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
Masud urged voters to come to the polling centres to exercise their right to vote in a festive atmosphere and expected the turnout to be huge in coming hours as many people did not get the opportunity to vote for a long time.
He also expected young or first-time voters to turn out in huge numbers.
Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarkar earlier told BSS that the EC by now completed all required preparations by taking necessary administrative, technical and security measures.
“The main thing now is for voters to go to the polling stations and exercise their voting rights,” he said.