JS polls: electioneering by candidates to end Tuesday

Electioneering by contesting candidates in the 13th National Parliament Election and Referendum, scheduled for February 12, will conclude at 7:30 am on Tuesday, exactly 48 hours before voting begins. The campaign, which started on January 22, will end in line with electoral rules requiring all political parties and candidates to cease campaign activities two days prior to polling. Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said campaign activities will stop at 7:30 am on February 10, maintaining the mandatory 48-hour silence period before the start of voting.

The 13th JS polls and referendum will be held on Thursday. Voting will take place simultaneously from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm through ballot papers using transparent ballot boxes in 299 parliamentary constituencies across the country. The EC recently cancelled the election in Sherpur-3 constituency following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate. As a result, voting will be held in 299 constituencies instead of 300.

Meanwhile, the EC has already sent ballot papers to returning officers in 49 districts, while the remaining ballots are expected to reach their destinations by today, according to EC officials. A total of 12,77,11,899 voters are eligible to cast their votes in the election and referendum. Of them, 6,48,25,154 are male voters, 6,28,85,525 are female voters, and 1,220 belong to the hijra community.

Among the 300 constituencies, the lowest number of voters is in Jhalakathi-1 with 228,431 voters, while the highest number of voters is in Gazipur-2 with 804,333 voters. A total of 51 political parties are participating in the election with 2,034 candidates in the race, including 275 independent contenders. Among the political parties, BNP has fielded the highest number of candidates, with 291 contestants running under its paddy sheaf symbol.

Voting will be held at 42,779 polling centres across 300 parliamentary constituencies, where 247,482 polling booths will be set up, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed earlier said. Dhaka-12 constituency has the highest number of candidates with 15 contestants, while Pirojpur-1 has the lowest with only two candidates. Around 800,000 officials will be deployed to perform election duties, while nearly 900,000 members of law enforcement agencies will ensure security during the election and referendum.

A total of 55,454 observers from 81 locally registered organizations will monitor the election. Of them, 7,997 observers will work centrally and 47,457 locally on a constituency basis. Besides, around 500 foreign observers will be present during the election, said Election Commissioner Brig Gen Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah (Retd).