Awami League candidate Mohammad Habib Hasan was unofficially elected in Dhaka-18 by-polls held with the use of EVMs amid a low turnout on Thursday. Habib won the election beating his nearest rival BNP contender SM Jahangir Hossain by a huge margin of over 70,000 votes. Habib secured 75,820 votes, while Jahangir bagged only 5,369 votes, according to the unofficial election result announced by Returning Officer ZM Sahatab Uddin. Besides, Jatiya Party contestant Md Nasir Uddin Sarkat got only 325 votes, Gano Front’s Kazi Md Shahidullah got 126 votes, Bangladesh Congress’s Md Umar Faruk obtained 91 votes and PDP’s Md Mohibullah Bahar secured 87 votes. The voter turnout was only 14.18 percent as 81,818 out of total 5,77,116 votes were cast at 217 polling stations in the parliamentary seat comprising the 14 wards and airport area under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). The DNCC wards are 1, 17 and 43-54 located in Uttara and Cantonment and Gulshan Thana. Dhaka-18 constituency fell vacant after the death of former home minister and Awami League MP Sahara Khatun on July 9. Source: UNB AH

The by-elections to two parliamentary constituencies – Dhaka-18 and Sirajganj-1 will be held tomorrow from 9 am to 5 pm. The Election Commission (EC) has already completed all the preparations for holding the polls in a fair and peaceful environment. Eight candidates from six political parties including Awami League and BNP are contesting in these two seats. Candidates from the three main political parties – Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party are taking part in the by-polls in Dhaka-18 constituency, while only Awami League and BNP candidates are contesting in Sirajganj-1 constituency. The Ministry of Public Administration has decided to close only election-related institutions on the day of polling in these two constituencies. All other offices will remain open. Movement of some public transports has been banned from today midnight to tomorrow midnight. Motorcycles will not be allowed to ply from midnight on Tuesday to midnight on Friday. Subject to the permission of the Election Commission, some vehicles will be allowed to move. In order to maintain law and order, additional magistrates and law enforcement personnel have been serving in the two constituencies. Dhaka-18 constituency fell vacant following the death of Awami League lawmaker Advocate Sahara Khatun while Sirajganj-1 constituency fell vacant following the death of ruling party MP, Mohammad Nasim. According to EC sources, the Dhaka-18 constituency consists of wards no. 1, 17, and 43 to 54 of Dhaka North City and the airport area. The total number of polling stations is 217 and the number of polling booths is 1,353. The total number of voters is 5 lakh 77 thousand 188. Among them, 2, 96, 135 voters are male and 2, 81,053 are female. A total of six candidates are contesting in Dhaka-18 constituency. Candidates contesting in Dhaka-18 by-polls are – Awami League (AL) backed Mohammad Habib Hasan, BNP nominated SM Jahangir Hossain, Jatiya Party nominated Mohammad Nasir Uddin Sarkar, Mohammad Omar Faruque of Bangladesh Congress, Kazi Mohammad Shahidullah of Gonofront and Mohammad Mahibbullah Bahar of PDP. Sirajganj-1 constituency consists of Kazipur, part of Sadar and of one municipality. Candidates contesting in Sirajganj-1 are- Awami League backed Tanvir Shakil Joy and BNP nominated Selim Reza. The total number of voters in this constituency is 3 lakh 45 thousand 603. Of these, 1, 71, 641 are male voters and 1, 73, 962 are female voters. There are 168 voting centers in this constituency. Source: BSS AH

The recent outgoing DUCSU Vice President (VP) Nurul Haque Nur is going to vie for the Dhaka-18 parliamentary by election. He claimed that local BNP and Awami League leaders have inspired him to fight the election. In this seat the last Member of Parliament (MP) was Awami League presidium member Sahara Khatun. She died on July 9 and the later the seat was declared vacant. After that the AL and BNP leaders have begun their activities. Nurul Haque Nur said, we can pay a major role in the political arena centering the election. As I lived in Uttara, so many suggested that they will be with me if I run in the Dhaka-18 by election. Nur said, I will not participate in the election for any political party or alliance. But many from AL and BNP promised me to remain for me in the voting field. I am very optimistic about the election. Awami League and BNP are two major parties. They remained in power for more than one time and still remaining. They have lakhs and crores of supporters. But I will not fight in the election in favor of any of the parties, he added. AH