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Just days ahead of the highly anticipated Bangladesh general elections, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday alleged that an unusually large number of voters had been migrated to certain constituencies in Dhaka city and other parts of the country.
The party went on to demand the constituency-wise data on voter migration from the Election Commission, raising concerns over electoral malpractices.
The allegation came from the BNP delegation, led by Election Steering Committee Chairman Nazrul Islam Khan, during a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city.
“A large number of voters migrated to some specific constituencies, which is unusual,” said Nazrul Islam Khan at a press briefing after the meeting.
During the press briefing, Khan mentioned that the Bangladeshi Election Commission said the number of migrated voters to each constituency is not more than 2000-3000.
However, the BNP leader maintained that his party is not happy with the Election Commission's reply since the figure mentioned by the EC is not true and the body did not provide exact data from the concerned department, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
The BNP politician went on to allege that leaders and activists of a particular party are carrying out campaigns using the sentiments of religious belief, which is a clear violation of the Representation of the People Order. While he did not explicitly take a party's name, he might be talking about BNP's two rivals, Nahid Islam's
Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP) and the highly controversial Jamaat-e-Islami.
“Someone at a party was heard telling that a Muslim would have to answer the 4th question in the grave if he or she casts a vote for a specific symbol. They are doing this using religious belief and sentiment, which is a clear violation of RPO,” Nazrul Islam added.
The party went on to demand the constituency-wise data on voter migration from the Election Commission, raising concerns over electoral malpractices.
The allegation came from the BNP delegation, led by Election Steering Committee Chairman Nazrul Islam Khan, during a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city.
“A large number of voters migrated to some specific constituencies, which is unusual,” said Nazrul Islam Khan at a press briefing after the meeting.
Bangladesh EC responds
During the press briefing, Khan mentioned that the Bangladeshi Election Commission said the number of migrated voters to each constituency is not more than 2000-3000.
However, the BNP leader maintained that his party is not happy with the Election Commission's reply since the figure mentioned by the EC is not true and the body did not provide exact data from the concerned department, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
The BNP politician went on to allege that leaders and activists of a particular party are carrying out campaigns using the sentiments of religious belief, which is a clear violation of the Representation of the People Order. While he did not explicitly take a party's name, he might be talking about BNP's two rivals, Nahid Islam's
“Someone at a party was heard telling that a Muslim would have to answer the 4th question in the grave if he or she casts a vote for a specific symbol. They are doing this using religious belief and sentiment, which is a clear violation of RPO,” Nazrul Islam added.
