Staff Reporter :All preparations have been completed to hold the fifth phase of elections to 700 union parishads in 86 upazilas of 44 districts today (Saturday) amid tension and fear of violence as many ruling Awami League candidates are at loggerheads with party rebels over the polls.Campaigning for the elections ended officially on Thursday night along with a number of incidents of violence. The voting will begin at 8:00 in the morning and will continue till 4:00pm without any break. The government has declared public holiday in the election areas on the day of polling. Ban on traffic movement excluding the vehicles having stickers of the EC has been imposed in the areas.All preparations have been taken to hold the polls peacefully in a festive mood, said Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz said.Some 3,200 chairman contestants — 1,700 from 15 political parties and 1,500 independent ones — are there in the 5th phase election race.Besides, some 34,000 candidates are contesting the polls for member posts and reserved seats of the UPs. As per the EC statistics, AL has got its chairman candidates in almost all the UPs, while its arch rival BNP has no contestant in some 100 UPs. Besides, Jatiya Party (Ershad) has candidates in over 150 UPs. Like the previous four phases, no balloting is required against 42 chairman posts where ruling party candidates have already been elected uncontested in the 5th phase.Earlier, some 152 AL chairman contenders were elected unopposed in the first four phases of the election that started in March this year.More than one crore ten lakh people are expected to exercise their voting rights in the 5th phase election.Five magistrates — four executive magistrates and a judiciary magistrate — remain deployed to take action against election irregularities for four days from Thursday in each upazilas.Alongside the magistrates, additional number of Police, RAB, BGB, APBn, Ansar and Coastguard members remain deployed during the four days in the election areas to maintain electoral environment. In the first four phases, AL bagged 1,836 chairman posts, while BNP got only 243 chairman posts and independent candidates won in 526 posts.The EC has a plan to arrange elections to 4,275 UPs out of the country’s 4546 in the six phase this year.”I came here at about 3:00pm to discharge my duty. All matters relating to elections like ballot boxes and ballot papers have already reached my centre. I along with three assistant presiding officers and six poling officers are now at the centre. No untoward incident took place here,” Ziaur Rahman, Presiding Officer of Alakpur Uttarpar Maktob centre of a union of Brahmanbaria district said on Friday. Members of the law enforcement agencies, including police, RAB and BGB are working in the field and all election materials, including ballot papers and boxes reached the polling centres.According to EC Secretariat, the law enforcers are active in the field for the two days before polls. They have been directed to maintain the highest caution to prevent violence, he added.The EC has directed the outsiders to leave the polling areas to avert any unexpected situations during the election.The previous phases of the elections were marred by deadly clashes and irregularities. Over 102 people were killed and 8,000 injured in violence over union parishad polls across the country, according to media reports.Meanwhile, Shahinur Rahman, 40, a supporter of newly elected chairman Motaleb Hossain of Ailchara union parishad was killed in an attack by the defeated Awami League candidate’s men at Joardar Para in Kushtia Sadar. Election to Ailchara Union Parishad was held on May 7.Police said miscreants numbering 6 to 7 swooped on Shahinur and stabbed him indiscriminately on his way back home after closing his restaurant around 11:00pm, leaving him critically injured.Later he was rushed to Kushtia General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries around 1:00am.Shahabuddin Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Kushita Model Police Station, said Shahinur was involved in several anti-social activities.Quoting family members of the deceased, police said Shahinur had an enmity with the supporters of newly-elected chairman Siddiqur Rahman over the union parishad election for which he might have been killed.As soon as the news of his death spread, Shahinur’s supporters swooped into the houses of two supporters of Siddiqur and looted valuables after vandalizing those in the dead of night.Additional police have been deployed in the area to avert further trouble.Besides, at least 15 people sustained bullet injuries when supporters of rival candidates clashed at Kalia upazila of Narail district while three supporters of a BNP chairman candidate received serious wounds in an attack by AL nominated chairman candidate in Shariatpur on Friday. In Narail, clashes on Friday morning left a total of 15 people injured. They have been admitted to the Narail Sadar Hospital and Khulna Medical College Hospital.Purulia union will go to the polls on Saturday in the fifth phase of the union parishad elections.Supporters of Awami League candidate Harun-ur-Rashid severely beat up retired army soldier Montu, 56, who is campaigning for the party’s renegade aspirant Amirul Islam Moni, according to police and locals.Supporters of Moni attacked Rashid’s campaigners after the incident, leading to the skirmish.Rashid’s supporter Saiful Islam, injured in the clashes, claimed that Moni’s men, led by Jakatur Rahman, had fired on them.Those injured in the skirmish include Omar Sheikh, 40, Sarfaraz, 35, Elahi Sheikh, 30, Aladi Molla, 32, Saiful Sheikh, 25, Aksir Sheikh, 40, Humai Sardar, 35, Forkan, 35, Jakir, 32, and Mamun, 35.They were initially admitted to Narail Sadar Hospital but Humai Sardar was shifted to KMCH as his condition deteriorated.Narail’s Assistant Superintendent of Police Md Kamruzzaman said additional police and border guard troopers have been deployed in the area.
