DHAKA, Jan 7:
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to secure a record fourth straight term as her Awami League (AL) party was today leading in most of the seats in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies.
Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986. She bagged 249,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes, reported.
The 76-year-old leader, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, is set to secure a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term in the one-sided election.
According to the Daily Star newspaper, Awami League has so far won 8 out of 9 seats in the 300-Member Parliament. The Jatiya Party has won one seat.
However, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported that the Awami League has won in 79 constituencies while the Jatiya Party secured five seats. Independent candidates won the race in 23 seats, it added.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader claimed that the people have rejected the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami’s boycott of the election by casting their ballots.
“I sincerely thank those who braved the fear of vandalism, arson, and terrorism to participate in the 12th national parliamentary elections,” Quader said.
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader won the Rangpur-3 seat in the 12th national parliamentary election.
According to the initial estimates, the voter turnout was around 40 per cent but the figure could change after the final count, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal earlier said.
The 2018 general election recorded an overall turnout of more than 80 per cent.
Earlier, the voting ended at 4 pm.
An election commission spokesman said that other than some sporadic incidents of violence, the voting was largely peaceful in 299 of the 300 constituencies. The Commission suspended polling in one seat because of the death of a candidate.
The election commission cancelled the candidature of a ruling Awami League candidate in northeastern Chattogram at the fag-end of the voting hours as he “scolded and threatened” a police officer. The development left the polls in the constituency to be contested by two rebel candidates who belong to the ruling party as well.
The voter turnout was low as the ailing jailed ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) stayed away from the polls asking people to boycott it. The party alleged that no election under the current government would be fair and credible.(PTI)
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