Awami League wins contentious Bangladesh by-poll

DHAKA - The ruling Awami League Sunday won a key by-election in southern Bangladesh amidst protests from main opposition that the poll had been rigged.

The Election Commission declared Awami League candidate Nurrunnabi Chowdhury Shawon winner for Bhola-3 constituency, according to Star Online, the website of The Daily Star.

Shawon secured 93,873 votes while his opponent, Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed bagged 42,158.

Ahmed called the outcome a “burial of democracy”.

According to the announcement, a total 137,552 votes were cast in 77 centres out of 86 in the constituency. The number of total voters was 234,926.

The EC Saturday suspended polling at nine centres because of allegations that ballot boxes had been stuffed with spurious votes and other anomalies.

Re-polling at the suspended centres is not required as the margin of victory was greater than the 31,566 voters registered at those stations, the returning officer said.

The polling had been marred by clashes. The BNP had at one stage demanded deferment of the poll. Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M. Shamsul Huda, however, terming the voting “by and large free and fair”.