BNP demands judicial probe into NCC polls results

Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday demanded judicial investigation into the alleged ‘vote rigging’ in Narayanganj City Corporation polls, held first time with party symbols, on Thursday.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a news briefing at the party’s central office raised the demand. He proposed for launching investigation into ‘ballot stamping’ ‘counting’ and publishing of ‘results’ of the NCC polls.
He said it is very essential to examine the complaint of rigging brought by BNP nominated mayor candidate, Sakhawat Hossain Khan.
Rizvi at the briefing, arranged for sharing BNP’s reaction to the election results, said, declaring Awami League-nominated mayor candidate Selina Hayat Ivy winner was a cover-up. BNP would have welcomed it if true verdict of the people could have reflected in the election, he said. He insisted that Sakhawat’s allegation of rigging could not be ruled out.
Rizvi said their candidate complained that 1,000 ballots were stamped at a polling center where AL mayor candidate had bagged 800 votes while Sakhawat had got 500 votes. 
Later, the presiding officer concerned changed the tabulations as some journalists brought the matter to his attention, Rizvi said. He added that signed result sheets of 144 polling centers out of a total of 174 polling centers were not supplied to the BNP polling agents.
The BNP leader said that they had been voicing for last few days whether any rehearsal of the government’s hoax was being spread in the name of ‘fair election atmosphere.’
He said imposing restriction on electioneering by outsiders 72 hours prior to voting was ‘unprecedented’ and ‘dubious’. 
Rizvi said the local administration enforced restriction on electioneering to foil BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s visit to Narayanganj for campaigning. It was ‘intentional’, he alleged. 
The BNP leader said a frightening atmosphere had been prevailing in NCC constituency following non-deployment of army. The impact was clear as the voter turnout was thinner, he claimed.
He said only 25 percent vote was casted in some centers while at some centers, voters’ presence were scanty during the entire franchising hours but results showed that 80 percent ballots were stamped. 
The BNP leader said people doubted the role of the law enforcement agencies in the dark of night under the cover of ensuring unprecedented security. He claimed that citizens could not have any vigilance in a curfew-like situation.
There remain enough possibilities of ‘vote fraud’ as voting related materials, including ballot papers, ballot boxes and seals were in the custody of law enforcement agencies, Rizvi alleged. 

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