Another landslide victory for Awami League

 
The 12th parliamentary election of Bangladesh was held on Sunday (7 January 2024) all over the country in 299 constituencies. The number of total voters was 11,93,33,157. There were 6,05,92,169 male voters and 5,87,40,140 female voters. Casting ballots started from 8 am in the morning and continued till 4 pm in the afternoon.

Awami League-nominated candidates--with their Boat insignia--and Awami League-sponsored independents--mostly bearing Eagle and Truck to increase voter turnout, the AL high-command allowed party members to contest the polls as independents. According to final result, Awami League has won 225 seats, independents have won 61 seats, Jatiya Party won 11 seats and others have won one seat. Resutls of one constituency could not be found till filing of this report.  Election was not held in Naogan-2 due to death of an independent candidate.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also Awami League president, has secured a landslide triumph in the 12th Jatiya Sangsad polls from her home constituency Gopalganj-3, bagging over 86% of the total votes. According to the primary results announced by presiding officers, the premier has bagged 2,49,965 votes which is 86% of total votes in the constituency, leaving all rival candidates in the dust.

Her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar of the Bangladesh Supreme Party bagged only 479 votes.

Syed AK Ekramuzzaman, dismissed BNP leader and former advisor of Khaleda Zia, has won in the Jatiya Sangsad polls by defeating 'boat' candidate Badruddoza Md Farhad Hossain in Brahmanbaria-1. The independent candidate secured 89, 424 votes while his rival got 46, 189 votes, Deputy ommissioner and Returning Officer Habibur Rahman announced on 7 January. Trinamool BNP Secretary General Taimur Alam Khandakar has lost the race for the  Narayanganj-1 seat to Awami League candidate Textile and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi.

He came third in the race where Golam Dastagir Gazi won for the fourth time.

Golam Dastagir Gazi bagged 1,56,473 votes while his closest rival independent candidate Shahjahan Bhuiyan secured 45,075 votes, according to Assistant Returning Officer Ahsan Mahmud Russell. Captain of the national cricket team and world famed all rounder Shakib Al Hasan elected parliament member from Magura-1 constituency in the 12th national election held on Sunday.

Shakib cast his vote at the Dorimagura School center of Magura in the morning along with his father Mashrur Reza and sister Bristy.

Speaking to reporters, EC Secretary Jahangir Alam said Mustafizur had violated the code of conduct several times before.

The committee has been asked to submit a report within three working days.

Returning Officer Musammat Shahina Akhter formed a five-member committee to investigate the incident.

The members of the committee include Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) as convener, Sonagazi Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) as member secretary, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sonagazi Circle), Sonagazi Upazila Election Officer and Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sonagazi Police Station as members.

Presiding Officer Amir Hossain said, "Voters were coming and voting was going in an orderly manner since morning. Suddenly independent candidate Haji Rahim Ullah entered the polling center with 7-8 youths and asked me why I ordered fake votes."

"As soon as I replied that I did not give such an order, Haji Rahim Ullah slapped me on my face and left the spot after abusing me," he added.

Independent candidate Haji Rahim Ullah said, "The presiding officer ordered to cast fake votes. For this, a verbal complaint has been given against him to the election search committee."

Several heavyweight candidates including nominees from the Awami League and other parties, and independent contenders failed to secure victory in their respective constituencies in the 12th national polls, marked by the boycott of the BNP and other like-minded parties, as well as low voter turnout.
Notable among them are Awami League candidate State Minister for Civil Aviation Mahbub Ali, Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju, Workers' Party's Fazle Hossain Badsha, Jatiyo Party's Sharifa Quader, Krishak Sramik Janata League's Quader Siddiqi, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal's Hasanul Haque Inu.

According to unofficial results announced by the returning officers' offices, the majority of these heavyweight candidates were defeated by independent candidates with political affiliations to the Awami League who were denied official party tickets.

In the Habiganj-4 seat, Awami League candidate State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali conceded defeat to independent contender Barrister Sayedul Haque Sumon.

Sumon, who ran as an independent candidate with the "eagle" symbol, secured 1.98 lakh votes, while two-time lawmaker Mahbub Ali received 47,000 votes, as per the locally announced election results.

In the Pirojpur-2 seat, Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju, running with the "bicycle" symbol, suffered a defeat against independent candidate Mohiuddin Maharaj, the joint general secretary of district Awami League.

Mohiuddin Maharaj, former Zilla Parishad chairman, once served Manju as his personal assistant.

This marks the first occasion where Manju has conceded defeat after securing victories in six previous elections from the same seat.

The Awami League withdrew its candidate from the constituency, leaving it for Manju in a seat-sharing arrangement, as his party is a member of the 14-party alliance.

Since its formation in 2001, the party has won more than one seat only once, in 2014, when all major opposition parties, including the BNP, boycotted the national election.

In the Rajshahi-2 seat, Workers' Party candidate Fazle Hossain Badsha lost to independent candidate Md Shafiqur Rahman Badsha.

Fazle Hossain Badsha, general secretary of the Bangladesh Workers Party and a three-time lawmaker, participated in the polls under the Awami League's "boat" symbol as part of the AL-led 14-party alliance.

Shafiqur Rahman Badsha, a teacher by profession and the senior vice president of AL's Rajshahi city unit, contested independently with the symbol "scissor."

According to the results from the returning officer's office, Shafiqur Rahman Badsha secured 54,906 votes, surpassing Fazle Hossain Badsha, who received 31,466 votes.

Local sources say despite Fazle Hossain Badshah running with the boat symbol, the local Awami League did not support him. Right from the start, they actively campaigned for independent candidate Shafiqur Rahman Badsha.

In Dhaka-18 seat, Jatiyo Party Chairman GM Quader's wife, Sharifa Quader, faced defeat against independent candidate Md Khosru Chowdhury, the secretary of industry and commerce of Mahanagar North Awami League.

The Awami League withdrew its candidate from the constituency in accordance with a seat-sharing agreement with the Jatiyo Party. Unofficial results indicate that Sharifa Quader's "plow" symbol secured only 6,555 votes, while Khosru garnered 69,831 votes with the "kettle" symbol.

In Tangail-8, Krishak Sramik Janata League president Kader Siddiqui faced defeat from Awami League nominated candidate Anupam Shahjahan. According to unofficial results, Kader Siddiqui got 67,501 votes, while Anupam Shahjahan got 96,401 votes.

In the Kushtia-2 seat, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal's Hasanul Haque Inu faced defeat against independent candidate Md Kamarul Arefin, who previously served as the Mirpur Upazila Awami League general secretary and resigned from the post of Mirpur Upazila Parishad chairman to contest the election.

According to unofficial results, Md Kamarul Arefin secured 41,282 votes, while Inu received 36,731 votes.