700,000 security personnel for Bangladesh election
(dpa/NAN) Election campaigning in Bangladesh ended on Friday with the deployment of more than 700,000 security personnel to help maintain order during the parliamentary vote, Officials said.
The deployment came at the end of three weeks of campaigning, which was marred by sporadic violence across the country, living at least eight people dead.
Chief Election Commissioner, KM Nurul Huda, called upon the security forces to ensure an atmosphere that enables people to exercise their voting rights on Sunday.
“I hope the people will cast their vote to their desired candidates without intimidation and return home safely,” Huda told reporters in Dhaka.
Army troops, which were already deployed in 389 places in Bangladesh, starting on Monday to help the civil administration, were seen checking vehicles at positions in the capital Dhaka on Friday.
Members of the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh, and other security forces, including the Police, were also seen patrolling major thoroughfares.
“We are prepared to maintain order at any cost during the election,” Asaduzzaman Mia, Chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said.
The main contest in Sunday’s election is likely to be confined between the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League (AL)-led ruling coalitions and jailed former Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led opposition alliance.
A total of 1,861 candidates (across all political parties and independents) are contesting the election in 299 out of 300 parliamentary seats, according to the election office.
Voting in one of the constituencies has been rescheduled to Jan. 27 after a contender died of cardiac arrest.
Bangladesh has more than 104 million registered voters in this parliamentary election, the 11th since Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.
