Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) Mayor Candidate Mansiha Chakraborty, the only female mayoral candidate, in Barishal city election on Monday alleged she was attacked during elections when she protesting vote ridding and centre capturing.
She said that on arriving at Sadar Girls’ School centre, they found that all ballot papers had been stamped with the boat symbol.
When they informed the matter to the presiding officer, he did nothing about it.’When we took the ballot paper to the presiding officer, two people wearing Awami League badges pushed me and hit me from the back. They also tore up the ballot paper, which I was holding in my hand’ said Manisha.
She also said that she had photographs of those who had attacked her, adding that they had obtained similar reports from all polling centres across the city.
Manisha, a physician by profession, said that there was no point in contesting in an election where a mayor candidate was attacked like this.
bdnews24.com adds: Manisha Chakraborty, a Mayoral Candidate chosen by the Socialist Party of Bangladesh for Barishal city, has allegedly been attacked by Awami League supporters for ‘protesting vote rigging.’
Chakraborty also accused the Election Commission of ignoring her complaints of rigging as thousands of voters headed to the polls in the southern city of Barishal. The candidate with the Ladder symbol went to the Oxford Mission School centre to cast her vote at around 8am. Later, she visited the Government Girls High School centre at Ward No. 17. Chakraborty said she was ‘attacked’ by the ruling party supporters after she protested vote rigging by the Awami League, she told reporters waiting outside the polling centre.
The young politician who is also a physician said the attacker left her with back injuries and a broken fingernail.
However, Presiding Officer Prabhash Kumar Mandal denied the allegation and accused Chakraborty of creating a chaos instead. “Accompanied by about 20 people, she created a chaos at the centre. There have been no irregularities at the centre. She entered a polling booth, tore a ballot and walked away leaving us shocked,” Mandal told bdnews24.com. Chakraborty said she heard ballots are being stamped to favour the Awami League candidate in about 100 centres, half an hour into the voting. “Voters were not given ballot papers to cast their votes for mayoral candidates. We found all ballots for mayoral posts already stamped when we came to the centre 66. We informed the presiding officer but he just sat quietly without taking any action,” Chakraborty said. She alleged that two men wearing AL badges pushed her down, snatched the ballot paper from her and tore it. “Central Girls School, AK School- these centres are situated at the heart of Barishal city. What happened here mirrors the overall situation. Our agents have been pushed out of the centres. All we are expecting is a measure by the Election Commission.”
