Voting in the by-election for Gaibandha-5 constituency, which was suspended due to irregularities, began this morning in a peaceful environment with the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Voting started at 8 am and will continue till 4:30 pm. No untoward incident was reported till the filing of this report around 10 am.

Elections will be monitored through CCTV cameras as done before.

The candidates of the Gaibandha-5 by-election are: Awami League candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon, Jatiya Party candidate AHM Golam Shaheed Ranju, Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam and independent candidate Syed Mahbubur Rahman.

The constituency consists of Saghata and Phulchhari upazilas and 339,743 people will exercise their franchise.

On October 12 last year, the Election Commission (EC) suspended the by-election due to “rampant irregularities” on the election day and later the commission fixed January 4 for holding the polls.

Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. Accordingly it was scheduled for October 12.

A three-member committee was formed to look into the election irregularities on October 12 last year.

Following the recommendations of the committee, the Election Commission took punitive actions against 133 officials including an additional deputy commissioner, five sub-inspectors and returning officer of the election.

Rab, police, BGB and Ansar members will remain deployed to hold the election peacefully, said Returning officer Abdul Motaleb.