Polling for the first phase of the Sixth Upazila Parishad elections has ended. Barring a few isolated incidents, the election was fairly peaceful. There were fake votes in the election, the influence of many in the ruling party was true, but there were no major untoward incidents in the polls. In this case, the Election Commission has reason to be satisfied. But the main cause of embarrassment is voter turnout. Despite many discussions, voters did not turn up as expected in this election.
Election Commissioner said on Thursday the next day of the polling. MD. Alamgir told reporters at the election building that 36.1 percent votes were cast in the first phase of the election. Electronic voting machine (EVM) voting was done in 22 upazilas and remaining 117 upazilas were done by ballot paper. The voting rate in EVM is 31.31 percent and 37.22 percent in ballot. Sonatala, Mirsarai and Kushtia Sadar upazilas got the least number of votes. Only 17 percent polled in those places. Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat district received the highest number of votes. 73.1 percent of the votes were cast there.
The highest voting area is in Khetlal Upazila of Joypurhat with a total of 95 thousand 191 voters. Out of this 64 thousand 730 voters exercise their right to vote. Municipal Awami League president Dulal Mia Sardar got 30 thousand 390 votes there. His closest rival Awami League leader Taiful Islam Talukder got 22 thousand 901 votes.
Among the low polling areas, Bogura’s Sonatala had 1 lakh 64 thousand 332 voters. Among them, 28 thousand 278 people voted. There, Upazila Awami League president Minhaduzzaman Liton won the chairmanship again by getting 20 thousand 483 votes. His closest rival Zakir Hossain got 7 thousand 345 votes. Minhaduzzaman Liton is the younger brother of Member of Parliament Sahadara Mannan. Not only had the brother of this Awami League MP won the election, his son Sakhawat Hossain Sajal won in another upazila of Sariakandi in the district.
Kushtia Sadar is another upazila with less votes. Here only 73 thousand 299 voters voted out of 4 lakh 20 thousand 833 voters. Kushtia Sadar Constituency Member of Parliament and Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif's cousin Ataur Rahman Ata was elected by getting 67 thousand 481 votes. His only rival Abu Ahad Al Mamun got 3 thousand 564 votes.
According to the data provided by the Election Commission (EC), another upazila with less votes is Mirsarai in Chattogram. In that upazila there are 3 lakh 72 thousand 257 voters, Enayet Hossain Nayan was elected as chairman by getting 33 thousand 70 votes. His nearest rival Sheikh Mohammad Ataur Rahman got 20 thousand 767 votes.
According to the Election Commission, the low turnout was due to the paddy harvesting season, rains, lack of popular candidates, people going home due to holidays in urban areas, and non-participation of major political parties. Although these are reasons, it is not enough to say that it is just an excuse. Is the Election Commission's explanation for the low vote count the real reason? Man has no control over rice harvesting season, rain and storm, but the rest depends on man. The way the EC is trying to posit storm as a reason is not at all in the main cause, because there was no mention of storm on Election Day. Even during the rice harvesting season, people voted earlier, election day is always a holiday, and people don't usually go to the village on this one-day holiday, especially the next day when there is no other holiday.
EC wants to say that there was a lack of popular candidates in the elections. How to accept it? Although the election was not held on the party symbol, the leaders of the ruling party participated in the election, and the current chairmen also participated. According to the EC, in the three upazilas which received the least number of votes, in at least two of the three upazilas, the close relatives of the two members of parliament of the ruling Awami League party have won. So does the EC want to say that the political parties are boycotting the election because their leaders are basically candidates to attract voters to the center?
EC says that one of the reasons for the lack of voters in the elections is the non-participation of the BNP. It is such an unpleasant fact that there is no way to deny it. Yes, it is not that all or most of the BNP leaders would have won if they contested the elections, but the impact of their boycotting the elections is far reaching. As BNP did not participate in the elections, none of the like-minded members of the party participated. Even none of the political parties that participated with Awami League in the 12th National Assembly elections did not participate in the elections.
Awami League did not give the party symbol in the elections to avoid making the conflict between the parties public; But where is the Jatiya Party, where are the 14-partner parties, where is the 'King's Party' that suddenly flourished in the past and participated in the parliamentary elections? Although the Jatiya Party is recognized as the main opposition party in the Jatiya Sangsad, it is easy to imagine that this party does not exist at the marginal level, if we look at the history of their participation in the local government elections. The party surviving at the mercy of the government has been proven repeatedly in the crisis of leaders and workers. The first phase of the recently concluded Upazila Parishad elections proved that once again.
In the first phase of upazila parishad elections, most of the candidates are from Awami League. Local government election but there is no voter turnout in the election. The voting rate this time is less than the voting rate of the last parliamentary elections. Does this not prove that Awami League activists and candidates are failing to attract voters? Is this failure but an abstract expression of distrust?
No matter how many excuses the Election Commission makes about rough weather including paddy harvesting season, storms, the actual vote from the announcement of the election schedule to the election day. The wind was blowing across the specific 139 upazilas? The reality is that it never seemed like the vote had come. It is important to find out why this apathy of people towards voting is taking a terrible form.
There is no reason to think that all those who did not go to vote are supporters of BNP. So many Awami League leaders and activists in the country, have they gone to vote? Voter turnout shows that they too have lost interest in elections. People did not go to vote mainly because of an idea or belief that 'what will happen by voting'.
Have spoken to many personally, and most have the same opinion. It is a threat to the continuity of the democratic process. As people are becoming apathetic to vote day by day, if the 'assassins of darkness' ever get closer to the center of power, the road to liberation from here will continue to get longer and longer. Elections were once one of our festivals. Discussions and criticisms about votes and candidates were everywhere, but now those days are largely gone.
People who are not voting should be returned to vote, they should be given a chance, and a field of equal status and equal opportunities should be built. The right to vote, the democratic right. This sense needs awakening. An environment of communication and trust is needed between the center and the periphery. If the atmosphere of trust does not return, people will continue to deviate from voting and democratic rights!