BNP’s Mirza Faisal Amin wins by over 131,000 votes in Thakurgaon-1 by-poll

Ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-nominated candidate Mirza Faisal Amin, younger brother of President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, won the Thakurgaon-1 by-election on Thursday.
Faisal Amin secured 227,779 votes with the sheaf of paddy symbol. Jamaat-e-Islami's Md Delawar Hossain, the runner-up, received 96,453 votes with the scales symbol. Returning Officer and District Election Officer Kamrul Islam announced the unofficial result at around 8:45pm.
Voting began at 8am at all 185 polling centres and continued until 4pm without interruption. Of the constituency's 516,138 registered voters, 64.77% cast their ballots, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told journalists after polls closed. Turnout in the 13th parliamentary election on 12 February was 76.49%. Akhtar said no voters were waiting at any centre when polling ended, and that the final turnout figure would be announced once counting was complete rather than speculated upon.
"We have not received any reports of untoward incidents from anywhere since the morning," he said, adding that the commission had received no reports of incidents that could raise concerns about the election, in response to allegations of vote rigging and irregularities.
On complaints that photographs of some voters were missing from records at certain centres, Akhtar said the matter had been referred to the presiding and returning officers. 
They verified the voters' identities against the database and satisfied the candidates' agents, he said, and the issue was resolved on the spot.
Asked about three young people reportedly present at a polling centre, he said they were not eligible voters. They had registered at the age of 16 and received registration cards, but could not vote, he said, adding that the matter had been settled locally and had no bearing on the voting process.
Asked whether the by-election was a test ahead of the upcoming local government polls, Akhtar said he believed the commission had passed the test, and that journalists would assess its performance.
Earlier in the day, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin said the commission was giving equal importance to elections at all levels, not only national polls. He said the EC wished to build a culture of credible elections and turn electoral contests into festivals. He made the remarks after visiting the EC's election monitoring cell for the constituency, adding that the commission was treating the by-election with the same importance as a national one and had been able to ensure a fair voting environment.
Five candidates contested the seat: Mirza Faisal Amin (BNP, sheaf of paddy); Md Delawar Hossain (Jamaat-e-Islami, scales); Md Abdul Alim Nizami (Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, banyan tree); Hafez Md Khademul Islam (Islami Andolan Bangladesh, hand fan); and Husain Muhammad Omar Faruk (Bangladesh Congress, duck).
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was the constituency's member of parliament. The seat fell vacant after he became President.