AL’s Arafat wins Dhaka by-polls marked by rock-bottom voter turnout, attack on Hero Alom
Voter turnout at the election were recorded at only 11.5%, one of the lowest in the country's by-polls history.
One of the historically lowest voter turnouts and assault on independent candidate Ashraful Alom, widely known as Hero Alom, marked the Dhaka-17 by-polls that ruling Awami League candidate Mohammad A Arafat easily won.
Arafat achieved a decisive victory, getting 28,816 votes, while his closest rival Hero Alam got 5,609 votes. There were a total of eight candidates in the elections.
The parliamentary seat comprising Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, and part of the Dhaka Cantonment fell vacant following the death of popular actor and freedom fighter Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque on 14 May this year.
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A disappointing 11.51% of 325,205 voters showed up for casting their votes – a reflection of a lack of enthusiasm among the voters due to the absence of competitive candidates.
Hero Alom was attacked allegedly by men of the ruling party without any apparent reason. He is now being treated at a hospital.
On 21 March 2020, thirteen days after detecting the first Covid-19 case in Bangladesh, the Dhaka-10 by-polls took place, where only 5%, or around 16,000 voters, turned up to exercise their franchise – the lowest ever turnout in the country's electoral history.
A few months later on 17 October 2020, the by-polls to Dhaka-5 began. With over 1,200 newly detected Covid-19 cases, fear prevailed among voters. The turnout was a miserly 10.43%.
The attack unfortunate, unexpected: EC Alamgir
The attack on Hero Alom was unfortunate and unexpected, said Election Commissioner Md Alamgir.
Briefing reporters at the EC office after the voting ended on Monday, he went on to say that the election, however, was held in a free and fair manner.
"The by-election took place in 124 centres. You can't say that the election was not free and fair by analysing an incident in one centre," he said in response to a query over the attack on Hero Alom at a polling centre in Banani yesterday afternoon.
However, EC Alamgir said the commission had little information of the incident.
"Alom tried to enter a polling centre with his supporters, and at least 70 YouTubers and policemen stopped them, saying only the candidate can enter the centre with his polling agents," he added.
"The candidate engaged in an altercation with police. The incident did not take place inside the polling station. Some people chased him and may have assaulted him," he further said.
He said the EC had already instructed the police to take action against those involved in the assault.
Meanwhile, KN Roy Niyoti, additional deputy commissioner (media), Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said four people have been arrested in connection with the incident and the operation against the others involved in the incident is continuing.
The attack an attempt to make polls controversial: Arafat
Arafat has condemned the attack on his rival Hero Alom.
"I've heard about the assault on one candidate. Such an untoward event was not necessary. I think the perpetrators were trying to make the election seem controversial. I condemn this incident," he said at a press conference after voting ended in the by-election this afternoon.
Arafat urged the Election Commission to conduct a proper investigation into the incident and take legal action against the perpetrators.
Low turnout as parliament tenure nears end
The Election Commission said voter turnout was low as the tenure of the current parliament is nearing an end, with national elections slated for the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
Another reason is that the seat is located in a rather posh area, and there was heavy rain in some areas yesterday morning, election commissioners Ahsan Habib and Rasheda Sultana told reporters after observing the by-poll via CCTV cameras.
In the middle of the vote, independent candidate Tariqul Islam boycotted the polls.
Regarding this, EC Rasheda said, "He could have seen it through till the end. By boycotting the election in the morning, he missed the opportunity to see the result. However, we will investigate the matter."
The EC has monitored the by-polls through 853 CCTV cameras from the control room in Dhaka.
