Mirza Abbas says ‘vote engineering’ failed to override people’s mandate

BNP senior leader and MP-elect from Dhaka-8 Mirza Abbas on Friday said despite extensive attempts at “vote engineering” by his man rival candidate, they failed to override the people’s mandate.

“A certain group tried to divert the people’s votes through cunning tactics, but their attempts ultimately failed against the tide of public support,” he said.

Talking to reporters after visiting his family graveyard in Shahjahanpur following Jumma prayers, Abbas alleged that a large number of ballots in his favour were unfairly cancelled.

He also expressed surprise at the vote count of his nearest rival National Citizen Party (NCP) candidate Muhammad Nasiruddin Patwary.

“They have no real public support, so how did they get so many votes? This clearly shows the manipulation that took place behind the scenes,” he said.

Abbas claimed the NCP candidate had prepared for this kind of engineering well before the election.

“What I kept saying repeatedly was that they would attempt an engineering. They have done it. At first, we didn’t understand how they did it, but now we do. This is very dangerous for the nation. It is a bad sign. They should not have done it,” he said.

When asked about the possibility of a re-count, Abbas said, “Questions about the transparency of the election remain. However, any decision regarding a re-count or related matters lies entirely with the Election Commission. If they consider it necessary, they can take action.”

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Despite the allegations, he urged BNP activists to remain calm and patient.

“I am pleased with BNP’s decisive victory, and the people are happy too. Citizens voted with joy,” Abbas said replying to a question.

According to unofficial results of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, Mirza Abbas secured 59,366 votes, while his nearest rival, Nasiruddin of the NCP, received 54,127 votes.