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Workers move election materials from Tejgaon BG Press to returning offices across the country on Sunday.
Electioneering for the much-hyped 13th parliamentary election will officially end tomorrow morning, ushering in the mandatory quiet period ahead of polling day on Thursday.
With only hours remaining, political parties and candidates are making their final push – holding rallies, conducting door-to-door campaigns, and issuing last-minute appeals to voters – before all forms of electioneering come to a halt in line with electoral laws.
According to the polls schedule, candidates were allowed to begin campaigning on 22 January, which can run until 7:30am tomorrow, exactly 48 hours before the voting begins.
Voting will be held in 299 constituencies on Thursday as election to the Sherpur-3 has been postponed due to the death of a candidate.
Meanwhile, the process of sending ballot papers to the returning officers (ROs) of 299 constituencies has already completed, an EC official said.
The ROs started distributing the ballots from their offices to the assistant returning officers of their respective seats on Sunday.
On Wednesday, polling officials will receive the ballots and other election materials from them and proceed to the polling centres the same night.
Candidates and parties
A total of 2,034 candidates are contesting the election, including 83 female ones. Of the total, 1,755 are backed by political parties, while 274 are independents.
Of the independents, over 50 are BNP rebels.
Md Saiful Islam, director (Operations) of the National Identity Registration Wing of the Election Commission (EC) and member secretary of the Central Coordination Committee for the polls and referendum, said 51 political parties are participating in the election.
Of the candidates, 290 are from the BNP, 216 from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, 30 from the National Citizen Party (NCP), 259 from Islami Andolan Bangladesh, 196 from the Jatiya Party (JaPa), and 92 from Gono Odhikar Parishad.
Of the seats, Dhaka-12 has the highest number of candidates with 15 contestants, while Pirojpur-1 has the lowest with only two candidates, according to the EC.
Voting will be held from 7:30am to 4:30pm on Thursday. A ban has been imposed on all kinds of public meetings, processions and rallies for 96 hours before and after the voting.
Under article 78 of the Representation of the People Order, 1972, no person shall convene, organise, participate in or attend any public meeting, nor organise or take part in any procession or rally in the concerned electoral areas during the 48 hours preceding the start of polling and the 48 hours following the completion of the voting.
During the specified period, no person shall engage in any aggressive activity or disorderly conduct in the electoral areas. Display of arms or show of force has been completely prohibited.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank has issued directives to restrict transactions through Mobile Financial Services (MFS) ahead of the polls. It sent the relevant instructions to commercial banks on Sunday.
According to the directives, from Sunday until midnight of the voting day, transactions through mobile banking will be limited to a maximum of Tk10,000 per day.
Meanwhile, in a separate internal instruction, banks have been advised that cash transactions per customer will be capped at a maximum of Tk1 lakh per day.
Massive deployment of law enforcers
So far, 9.70 lakh members of different law enforcement agencies have been deployed in the field across the constituencies to ensure that the election is held in a smooth and peaceful manner.
Of them, 576,483 members are from the Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP), 103,000 from the Army, 5,000 from the Navy, 3,730 from the Air Force, 37,453 from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), 3,585 from the Bangladesh Coast Guard, 187,603 from the police, 9,349 from Rapid Action Battalion, and 45,820 members from Chowkidars and Dafadars.
A total of 1,051 executive magistrates remained deployed across the country to maintain law and order during the election primarily to conduct mobile courts in their respective areas from 8 to 14 February, said EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.
He said judicial magistrates will also stay in the field during this period.
In addition, the Electoral Enquiry and Adjudication Committee has already been working in the field, the EC secretary added.
The magistrates will work in coordination with law enforcement agencies, mobile and striking forces, particularly BGB and the Coast Guard, to ensure law and order and prevent crimes during the election.