Govt ready to hold free, fair and festive national polls: Home Adviser

Home Adviser Lieutenant General (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury today (2 February) reiterated the government's readiness to hold the forthcoming national election in a free, fair, impartial, peaceful and festive manner with the deployment of around nine lakh law enforcers across the country.

"Preparation is well enough to hold the next parliament election in a free, fair, peaceful, impartial and festive manner," he said.

The Home Adviser made the remarks after holding a Barishal divisional law and order meeting at the auditorium of the Barishal Shilpakala Academy here.

He said the next general election would be held peacefully and in a festive atmosphere with the cooperation of all concerned. "The election will be held in a very peaceful manner with the help of all concerned," he added.

Replying to a question, he said government staff, including the local administration, have been working impartially to ensure the peaceful conduct of the election.

Regarding security deployment, the Home Adviser said one lakh members of the army, 1.5 lakh police personnel, around six lakh Ansar and VDP members, five lakh each from the Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard, 37,000 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members and 10,000 Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel will be entrusted with maintaining law and order during the election period.

In addition, members of the Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC) will also be deployed, he said.

Speaking about maintaining law and order in remote riverine areas of Barishal division, the adviser said Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard personnel have already been deployed in large numbers in those areas.

He also said 35 speedboats have been allocated against a demand for 16 speedboats to facilitate immediate and prompt measures to maintain law and order.

Regarding risky polling centres, he said additional forces would be deployed there alongside the use of body-worn cameras, CCTV cameras, dog squads and drones.

The Surakhya App will also remain operational during the election period, he said, noting that the app helped ensure peaceful celebrations of Sharadiya Durga Puja at 33,000 puja mandaps across the country as well as Saraswati Puja.

"InshaAllah, the forthcoming election will also be held peacefully across the country, and the app will play a significant role in this connection," he said.

Home Secretary, chiefs of all forces, the Barishal divisional commissioner, range DIG of police, deputy commissioners, police superintendents and other concerned officials were present at the meeting.