Dhaka, Feb 12 (.) Former NCP member and now independent candidate for Dhaka-9, Tasnim Jara, on Thursday alleged that her polling agents were obstructed at multiple voting centres across the constituency, accusing election officials of removing her representatives on what she called “baseless and fabricated” grounds.
Speaking to reporters at the Khilgaon Model College polling centre, Jara said several of her authorised agents had either been denied entry or expelled from centres without lawful justification.
“My polling agents are being prevented from entering centres or are being forced out using various made-up excuses,” she said. “Some are being told, ‘You are not a voter here,’ even though there is no rule requiring a polling agent to be a voter of that particular constituency.”
She further claimed that female polling agents had been barred from entering male-designated polling centres under what she described as non-existent regulations.
“They are also repeatedly being told that phones cannot be brought inside, whereas the rule is that phones may be carried but cannot be used.
“Using these excuses, our agents are being pushed out while voting continues inside,” she said.
The EC had declared the nomination paper of Tasnim Jara, an independent candidate for Dhaka-9, valid, back in January, following her resignation from the NCP.
Questioning the fairness of the electoral process, she said the removal of polling agents undermined transparency. “When I ask what specific rule they are enforcing, they cannot answer,” she said.
“A short while ago, I had to personally go and resolve one such incident. But as a candidate, I cannot keep running to presiding officers to ask which rule allows them to remove my agents based on such baseless claims.”
Jara also raised concerns about a lack of accountability among polling officials. “When I ask who gave the order, they just say, ‘I was told,’ but refuse to name the person. This cannot be acceptable in any way.
“We want a fair election, and denying our agents entry under false excuses goes against that,” she added, noting that similar complaints had been reported from several centres in the constituency.
Dhaka-9, which has 469,360 registered voters, is seeing a competitive race among 12 candidates. Jara is currently facing strong opposition from BNP candidate Habibur Rashid in what is considered one of the closely watched contests in the capital.
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