Voting in 139 upazilas has been completed in the first phase of the sixth upazila parishad elections. Voting started at 8 am on Wednesday (May 8) and continued till 4 pm. Incidents including firing, clashes, suspension of polling and arrest of the presiding officer took place at various places. But there was no major violence.

Voter turnout was low at polling stations across the country. According to the analysis of the data received from various centers till 12 noon, 15 to 20 percent votes have been cast, said the Secretary of the Election Commission. Jahangir Alam. It is expected to be 30-40 percent by afternoon.

In the press conference around noon, the EC Secretary said that we have been informed from the field level that the polling is going on in a fair and peaceful manner. Different places have different votes. 15 to 20 percent polling till 12 noon. I will get the actual rate later.

During the election, there were sporadic clashes at various places. Clashes and shootings took place between the supporters of the two chairman candidates Amirul Islam (Pineapple) and Mansoor Ahmed Khan Jinnah (Cup Pirich) in Ghazaria of Munshiganj. At this time, the police fired six rounds of rubber bullets to control the situation.

In Tangail Madhupur and Dhanbari Upazila Awami League leaders and candidates clashed. The incident took place in several centers including Gangair Ahmed Ali Memorial High School in Madhupur Upazila. In these two upazilas, the presence of voters in the centers was very low due to panic and rain.

In front of Chabbisha Government Primary School center in Shalla, Sunamganj, a clash took place between the supporters of the two chairman candidates with horse and pineapple symbols. 10 people were injured. Earlier on Monday (May 7) at around 2 o’clock in the night, the police arrested four people, including the assistant presiding officer of another center, in front of the same center.

Besides, there were incidents of attacks on police and journalists during the elections.

Journalists were beaten up in Sadar Upazila of Sylhet. When a young man was caught while casting fake vote in Sadar’s Ghopal Government Primary School, supporters of the candidate with the Cup Piritch symbol attacked the journalist who could not free him.