AL candidate Ripon wins Gaibandha-5 by-polls

Ruling Awami League (AL) nominated candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon has been unofficially elected as Member of Parliament from Gaibandha-5 constituency in the by-poll with the 'Boat' symbol.

Returning Officer of the by-poll Md Faridul Islam declared the result, saying that Ripon, who had served Bangladesh Chhatra League as its central president, bagged 78,275 votes while his nearest rival of Jatiya Party's candidate HM Golam Shaheed Ranju got 44,950 votes with the symbol 'Plough'.

Besides, Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam bagged 1,796 votes with the symbol 'winnowing-fan' while independent candidates Nahiduzzaman Nishad got 1,630 votes with the symbol 'Apple' and Syed Mahbubur Rahman secured 2,950 votes in the by-polls to Gaibandha-5 constituency.

Earlier, the voting was held using electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 145 centres from 8 am to 4:30pm on Wednesday without any break while the election was monitored from Dhaka through a total of 1,242 CCTV cameras.

According to the election office sources, a total of 21 executive and judicial magistrates, eight teams of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), five platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), bomb disposal unit, striking force, members of Ansar and police personnel were deployed to ensure a free, fair and credible election.

The parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on 23 July, 2022.

The Election Commission (EC), earlier, held the by-poll on 12 October, 2022 as it was constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by 20 October.

But the EC suspended the by-election due to "irregularities" on the election day and later the commission fixed 4 January for holding the polls.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, however, in an immediate reaction after the Wednesday's by poll to Gaibandha-5 constituency said that starting and ending environment of the polls was wonderful.

"The election was held in a disciplined and peaceful manner," he said, adding that it was a successful poll indeed.

Noting that the EVMs and CCTV cameras added a new dimension to the credible elections, the CEC said that the EC yet to decide whether the CCTV cameras would be set up during the upcoming parliament elections.