New Delhi: Voting for the general elections in Bangladesh began on Sunday morning. The main opposition has gone on strike and boycotted the elections, while incidents of arson, including at least five schools and a train being set ablaze have been reported. Amid all this, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seems to be set to cruise to a fourth straight term with her Awami League-led alliance.
Voting began at 8 am and is scheduled to end at 4 pm. The votes will be counted right after the polling exercise, and results are expected by Monday. Bangladesh has around 20 million voters, while nearly 2,000 candidates are in the fray for the 300 parliamentary seats. There are 436 independent candidates — the most since 2001.
The boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its smaller allies has put a blot on the credibility of elections, with the BNP alleging that the Awami League has propped up “dummy” candidates as independents to try to make the election look democratic, reported Reuters. Hasina’s bloc has denied the claim.
Amid tensions, the BNP, which also boycotted polls in 2014, has urged people to boycott the polls and called a two-day nationwide strike till Sunday night.
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