Staff Reporter :
The BNP accused the police of involving ‘vote terrorism’ on Monday’s polls in Rajshahi, Barishal and Sylhet city corporations terming the polls as a ‘violent farce’.
“The ruling Awami League’s goons had driven away BNP candidates’ polling agents from nearly all polling centres from the beginning of vote in the three cities and stuffed ballot boxes with AL’s election symbol ‘boat’. In these circumstances it was not possible to exercise voting rights by even a small number of voters,” said BNP Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a press briefing at the party’s central office in the capital after the vote.
Rizvi said that the police had used its power to commit ‘vote terrorism’. He also said police had seized the documents of a BNP polling agent at Nagarpara Government Primary School centre in Rajshahi during the voting.
Rizvi said, “The voters in three cities had not been able to exercise their voting rights. It had been proved yet again that fair elections will never be possible under the illegal Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her subservient Chief Election Commissioner.”
Replying to a question, he said that vote rigging and terrorism had occurred at most polling centres in the three cities.
Referring to an Awami League leader’s comment that voting had taken place amid festive mood, Rizvi said that it was a festival of vote rigging.
He said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir would give the formal reaction to the three city polls later.
The BNP leader also alleged that 24 polling agents of their party had gone missing in Rajshahi.
Rizvi said, “Officer-in-Charge Kamal in Rajshahi city drove away BNP chairperson’s adviser and former city mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu from a polling centre.
The OC also driven away Rajshahi district BNP President Tofazzel Hossain Tapu and city unit General Secretary Shafiqul Islam Milon from the polling centre.”
He alleged that the Awami ‘goons’ had confined BNP mayor candidate Mujibor Rahman Sarwar in Barishal and also injured him. The BNP leader said that the present Election Commission had now become a parasite and was opposing holding of fair polls.
BNP leaders Abdus Salam, Shirin Sultana, Abul Kalam Azad, Abdus Salam Azad, Rafik Sikdar and Aminul Islam were present at the briefing, among others.
