The election and referendum in Bangladesh saw over 55% voter turnout despite the Awami League missing from the electoral process. Some Awami League voters may have stayed away from the voting process, a study of the voter turnout suggests. While the results are already clear in several seats, official announcements are awaited.
As predicted, according to early trends, the Tarique Rahman-led BNP seems to be in the lead. The counting process started soon after polling ended at 4:30 PM on Tuesday.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from places like Gopalganj, Munshiganj, and Cumilla during polling. At the Atakara Government Primary School polling centre in the Chauddagram upazila of Cumilla, several crude bombs went off one after another.
In Bhairab, Kishoreganj, it has been alleged that a man named Razzak Mia (55) died while being chased by law enforcement officers. In Khulna, Mohibuzzaman Kachi (60), a BNP leader, died after rival Jamaat supporters pushed him, causing him to fall and sustain a head injury.
BNP's National Parliamentary Election Management Committee spokesman and adviser to the BNP chairperson, Tarique Rahman, said, "We firmly believe that there will be a tidal wave in favour of the sheaf of paddy, and BNP will win. The victory of democracy will be ensured."
The voting process is likely to continue till the morning, even as early leads seem to suggest that the BNP will perform well as expected. In a setback to the Jamaat, the Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman faces defeat at his own polling centre in Mirpur, Dhaka.
Once the counting is over, the Election Commission will have to notify the results to declare a winner. Once the winner is announced, the interim government will transfer power to the newly elected government within three to four days of the national election, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, indicated.
Once the newly elected members of parliament are sworn in, the leader of the majority party will be invited to take an oath as the new prime minister of Bangladesh, completing Bangladesh's transition to a democratically elected government with a political mandate. The Interim Government says the process could be completed by February 15 or 16, and it will not drag beyond February 17 or 18.
Gayeshwar Chandra Roy from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is set to become the first ever Hindu MP from Dhaka since 1971, when Bangladesh was liberated.
Roy is expected to win the Dhaka 3 seat by a comfortable margin.
