No one to be spared in case of irregularities in by-polls: EC

Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz has warned that no one will be spared in case of any irregularity in Barisal-5 and Narayanganj-5 by-elections. Vote will be held in Barisal-5 constituency on Sunday (June 15) while Narayanganj-5 by-poll is slated for June 26. 'Law enforcement agencies have already been instructed to prevent all sorts of anomalies in the by-polls,' Shah Nawaz told reporters at his Election Commission Secretariat office. The EC's own staff are monitoring the election environment in Barisal-5 round the clock to ensure fair polling, he added. The Barisal parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of Awami League MP Shawkat Hossain Hiron on April 9 while the Narayanganj constituency with the death of Jatiya Party MP AKM Nasim Osman on April 30. The Awami League nominee Hiron's wife Jebunnessa Afroj and BNF's Saiful Islam Liton are contesting the Barisal-5 by-poll. Jatiya Party leader and BKMEA president AKM Selim Osman, former MP and Nagarik Oikya adviser SM Akram, Krishak Sramik Janata League district unit president Delwar Hossain and independent candidate Sirajul Majid are in the polls race in Naryanganj-5, according to UNB.