The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday suspended elections in 26 polling centers of 13 upazilas in 10 districts amid sporadic incidents of violence. Acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Abdul Mubarak announced it at a media briefing held at the EC secretariat in the evening on the day.The third phase of upazila polls at 81 upazilas ended on Saturday amid sporadic incidents of violence in different districts across the country that left three persons dead.”We have suspended the polls of 26 polling centers as the situation was not conducive for a proper election,” said Abdul Mubarak.The acting CEC, however, termed the irregularities and violence ‘isolated incidents’ describing the election as largely fair and peaceful. “It was almost a peaceful election as violence led to suspend polls in only 26 polling centers out of total 5,444 centers,” he said. When asked, he said, it would take time to hold a violence free election in the country. Once people would be restrained and civilized then election would be held without any violence.Out of the suspended centers, two in Comilla district, six in Chandpur, two in Feni, three in Mymensingh, three in Barisal and one each in Kishoreganj, Laxmipur, Bhola, Jessore and Rajshai districts.Meanwhile, voting was postponed and several candidates in different upazilas boycotted polls protesting irregularities and violence in the elections.Candidates in Barisal, Bagerhat, Feni and Shariatpur districts boycotted Saturday’s upazila election alleging irregularities. The BNP-led 19-party alliance called dawn-to-dusk hartal in four upazilas of Bagerhat and half-day hartal for Sunday in Chouddagram and Nangalkot upazilas demanding cancellation of Saturday’s upazila elections.In Barisal, the BNP-backed candidate and the Awami League’s rebel candidate for chairman post have boycotted elections in Muladi upazila bringing allegations against the Awami League candidate of ‘massive vote rigging.’BNP candidate Abdus Sattar Khan and an AL-rebel candidate Abdul Malek Rari, in separate press conferences in the morning, told the media that the activists of Awami League candidate Tarikul Hasan Khan Mithu captured the polling centres and stuffed the ballot papers.The AL supporters also drove out the agents of rival candidates from the polling centres and intercepted voters from casting votes, they alleged.Besides, BNP’s Muladi unit called a dawn- to- dusk hartal for Sunday protesting massive vote rigging in the upazila elections.The Bagerhat unit of BNP has called strike in 4 upazilas for Sunday demanding re-polls.BNP’s Bagerhat district president MA Salam announced this on Saturday.Shoronkhola, Rampal, Morelganj and Bagerhat Sadar Upazila went to polls during the third phase of Upazila elections on Saturday.A BNP-backed candidate already ‘boycotted’ the polls in Shoronkhola alleging that supporters of the Awami League-backed candidate had resorted to large scale rigging.At a press conference, Salam alleged that the Awami League cadres had been assaulting supporters of BNP-backed candidates in four Upazilas for several days.They also vandalised houses of BNP-backed leaders in this Upazilas, he alleged.”The AL criminals also went to the houses of voters on Friday night and intimidated them,” he further alleged.The AL-backed candidates stuffed the ballot papers chasing away polling agents of the BNP-backed candidates from the centres, Salam alleged.”We demand the Election Commission suspend the polls in these Upazilas and organise re-polls there,” he said.
