Akram accuses Salim Osman of vote rigging

The counting of votes in Narayanganj-5 by-polls continues as the polling ended at 4:00pm on Thursday. The voting in the parliamentary seat was held from 8:00am to 4:00pm amid allegation of vote rigging and ballot box-stuffing against a candidate. Independent candidate SM Akram alleged that the supporters of Jatiya Party hopeful AKM Salim Osman cast fake votes and stuffed ballot boxes in many centres beforehand to manipulate the results. Talking to reporters at Gano Bidya Niketon centre in Narayanganj city around 12:45pm, he also said the followers of Salim Osman drove away his agents from some centres. Meanwhile, the JP candidate denied the allegation. The parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of Jatiya Party MP Nasim Osman on April 29. Four candidates are in the polls race, but two of them were considered to be frontrunners who are AKM Salim Osman (brother of Nasim Osman) with ‘plough’ as election symbol and independent candidate former MP and Nagorik Oikya adviser SM Akram with ‘pineapple’. The two others are Krishak Sramik Janata League candidate Shafiqul Islam Delwar with ‘kerchief’ as election symbol and independent candidate Mamun Sirajul Majid with ‘shrimp’. A total of 342,405 voters — 174,311 males and 168,094 females — were eligible to exercise their franchise at 674 booths in 141 polling stations in the by-polls, according to a news agency.