A party preparing for election engineering: Mahdi Amin

Mahdi Amin, spokesperson of the BNP’s central election steering committee and adviser to the party chairperson, has alleged that a political party is deliberately preparing for election engineering.

He said the recent incident in Lakshmipur, where leaders of that party were found making voting seals, was evidence of such preparations. He further claimed that information had been received from various areas indicating that a large number of burqas and niqabs had been prepared with the intention of misusing religious sentiments and casting fraudulent votes.

Mahdi Amin made the remarks while speaking at a press conference at the BNP’s election steering committee office in Gulshan, Dhaka, on Saturday afternoon.

Mahdi Amin said they were observing with concern that, in connection with the recovery of six illegal seals used for voting in Lakshmipur, the owner of a printing press had been arrested and, in a confessional statement before the court, stated that the seals were made on the instructions of a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami. He said preliminary investigations had also found evidence including WhatsApp order details, seized materials, and proof of close links with the concerned candidate, indicating a conspiracy to influence the election. He demanded that all those involved in the incident be brought under the law.

Issuing a strong call to the Election Commission, the BNP election steering committee spokesperson said that a sufficient number of female polling officers must be appointed at women’s polling booths in every polling centre, and that voter identification must be effectively carried out by ensuring faces are uncovered in accordance with laws and regulations. He noted that the Election Commission had already issued clear instructions that, just as it is mandatory to keep the face uncovered when taking photographs for national identity cards or Hajj, voters must similarly uncover their faces before female polling officials during voting to confirm their identity. He added that, to ensure transparency and credibility in voting, it was also essential for all political parties to appoint female polling agents at women’s polling booths as far as possible.

He added that they had previously observed the same political party going door to door collecting national identity (NID) numbers and bKash account details. He said these incidents left no scope to rule out the risk of vote rigging. He also claimed they had received information about preparations to print additional ballot papers. Referring to a recent incident, he said law enforcement agencies had recovered 152 cricket stumps during a raid at the residence of a leader of that party in Sutrapur in Old Dhaka. He questioned whether this indicated preparations for nationwide violence during the election, and said increased monitoring would be necessary if that were the case.

Links alleged between observer organisations and a political party

Mahdi Amin said another serious issue had come to their attention regarding various irregularities in the appointment of election observers for the upcoming polls. As an example, he cited the People’s Association for Social Advancement (PASA), an organisation he described as existing largely in name, which had received approval to deploy the highest number of observers. Of the total 55,454 domestic observers nationwide, PASA alone had been allocated 10,559. However, media reports have shown that the organisation operates from a single room of a house in a village in Habiganj and has only one staff member.

He said they had earlier informed the Election Commission that several organisations operating under the banner of election observation had links to a particular political party. He added that they believed such issues posed obstacles to holding a fair election. He therefore renewed a call on the Election Commission and the interim government to take necessary measures to ensure a level playing field for a free, fair and impartial election.