AL candidate wins Satkania UZ polls amid BNP boycott

CHATTOGRAM, Oct 15: Awami League (AL) candidate won the election to Satkania Upazila (UZ) Parishad in Chattogram with BNP aspirant boycotting the race citing vote rigging, capture of polling centres and obstruction to voters from franchising their rights.

BNP candidate boycotted the polls at 10:00 am citing the allegations.

AL-nominated candidate MA Motaleb bagged 63,573 votes while his nearest rival Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury secured 6,984 votes, according to election officials. Independent candidate Abdul Monaem Munna Chowdhury got 143 votes

The voters of the upazila cast their votes from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm without interruption on Monday and ballot counting ended around 10:00 pm.

BNP aspirant alleged Awami League followers forcefully occupied the polling centres and prevented voters from entering the centres to rig the votes. In these circumstances, he decided to boycott the polls.

Besides, AL-nominated candidate Anjuman Ara was elected female vice chairman while Salah Uddin Hasan Chowdhury of the ruling party won vice chairman post.

Election Commission (EC) sources said there are 283,380 voters in the upazila. Of them, 150,286 are male while 133,094 are female.

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