Women lead early morning polling queues across Bangladesh
DC Masud said, “This is shaping up to be one of the best elections in history. People are voting in a festive atmosphere, and there is no room for disruption today.”
From the first hours of voting today (12 February), women were at the forefront of polling queues across the country, showing enthusiasm to cast their ballots in the 13th national parliamentary election and the referendum.
In Dhaka, long queues of women were visible at various polling centres from 6:30am. At the University Laboratory School and College centre near Dhaka University, women and men queued separately, with women forming some of the longest queues.
The centre was visited by Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Ramna Division, and Siddiqur Rahman Khan, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Dhaka University.
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DC Masud said, "This is shaping up to be one of the best elections in history. People are voting in a festive atmosphere, and there is no room for disruption today."
In Dhaka-16 constituency, Tasmia Mehrin cast her first vote at Ahshania Mission College. University student Tamanna said, "I have been eagerly waiting since yesterday to vote for the first time. I came early this morning, and even now the queue is long."
Seventy-year-old Momtaz Begum, a voter from Dhaka-2 constituency supported on both sides due to difficulty walking, cast her first vote at Madhurchar Government Primary School at 7:30 am. She told TBS she was overjoyed to vote for her preferred candidate.
Similarly, women formed the majority at several polling centres in Sylhet, including Sarada Hall, where they outnumbered men. Women from religious minority communities stood in queues determined to exercise their democratic rights.
Sathi Rani Das from Topkhana said, "I came early to vote peacefully. The voting environment is excellent."
Shiuily Akter from Kazirbazar added, "I thought mornings would be less crowded, but the queue is quite long."
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Mashud said polling began smoothly at 7:30am with no reports of disorder and expressed hope that the peaceful environment continues throughout the day.
Voting is taking place across 299 constituencies, though polling in Sherpur-3 has been postponed due to the death of a candidate.
