BNP asks EC to defer by-polls or drop its symbol from ballot

BNP asks EC to defer by-polls or drop its symbol from ballot

Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to defer the by-polls to Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 parliamentary constituencies considering the coronavirus pandemic or remove its electoral symbol form the ballot paper.

The by-polls to the two constituencies are scheduled on July 14.

A two-member BNP-delegation, led by party joint secretary general Moazzam Hossain Alal, handed over a letter of its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to EC secretary M Alamgir in this regard.

After submitting the letter, Alal said that they requested the commission to defer the polls as the infection of COVID-19 was increasing and the flood situation was deteriorating in the northern districts.

He said BNP informed the commission that it was interested to participate in the polls if it was held after the situation gets normal.

‘We requested the Election Commission not to include our electoral symbol Sheaf of Paddy in the ballot paper if the elections could not be deferred,’ Alal said.

On Saturday, EC decided to hold the by-elections to Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 parliamentary constituencies on July 14.

The commission took the decision in a meeting at the Nirbachon Bhaban in the capital as there was a constitutional obligation for holding the polls by this time, EC secretary M Alamgir had said.

He said that all the election-related activates, including campaigning and polling, would be carried out maintaining the social distancing rule to prevent a further spread of COVID-19.

On March 21, the EC postponed the elections of the constituencies along with the Chattogram City Corporation polls because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The EC postponed the polls after it faced huge criticisms for holding the polls in Dhaka-10, Gaibandha-3 and Bagerhat-4 constituencies on March 21 amid the pandemic.