Voting in the 13th National Parliamentary Election is underway in a festive and peaceful atmosphere across Cox’s Bazar district. Polling began simultaneously at 7:30am on Thursday (12 February) in all centres under the district’s four parliamentary constituencies. Voter turnout has been noticeable since early morning.
Visits to several polling centres in Sadar, Ramu, and Chakaria upazilas showed voters standing in queues from morning until late afternoon to cast their votes. Separate lines have been arranged for male and female voters to ensure smooth management.
According to the District Election Office, voting will continue uninterrupted from 7:30am to 4:30pm. All necessary preparations were taken in advance so that voters can exercise their franchise without difficulty. Voters are casting ballots on two ballot papers — a white ballot for the parliamentary election and a pink ballot for the referendum.
The Office of the Returning Officer said that 13,499 law enforcement personnel have been deployed across the district to maintain law and order. The deployed forces include members of the army, BGB, navy, air force, coast guard, RAB, Ansar Battalion, and police. In addition, 7,774 Ansar and VDP members are performing duties at polling centres, with 13 Ansar members assigned to each centre.
Alongside the army, police, RAB, BGB, Ansar, and Coast Guard, mobile courts led by executive magistrates are operating in the field. Additional security measures have been put in place at vulnerable centres. A total of 34 executive magistrates and nine judicial magistrates have been deployed across nine upazilas. CCTV cameras have been installed at all 598 polling centres, and body-worn cameras have been provided to police and other law enforcement personnel.
The District Election Office stated that there are 1,849,993 registered voters across the four constituencies. Cox’s Bazar-1 (Chakaria-Pekua) has 540,490 voters, Cox’s Bazar-2 (Maheshkhali-Kutubdia) has 387,851 voters, Cox’s Bazar-3 (Sadar-Ramu-Eidgaon) has 545,963 voters, and Cox’s Bazar-4 (Ukhia-Teknaf) has 375,688 voters.
Voting is being conducted in 3,689 booths at 598 polling centres by 12,251 election officials. Among them are 4,503 presiding and assistant presiding officers and 7,748 polling officers.
In Cox’s Bazar-1 constituency, candidates include Salahuddin Ahmed of BNP with the Sheaf of Paddy symbol, Abdullah Al Faruque of Jamaat-e-Islami with the Scales symbol, and Md Sarwar Alam of Islami Andolan with the Hand Fan symbol. In Cox’s Bazar-2, candidates are Alamgir Muhammad Mahfuz Ullah Farid of BNP, A.H.M. Hamidur Rahman Azad of Jamaat-e-Islami, Ziaul Haque of Islami Andolan, Md Mahmudul Karim of Jatiya Party with the Plough symbol, and S.M. Roknuzzaman Khanan of Gono Odhikar Parishad with the Truck symbol.
In Cox’s Bazar-3, the contestants are Lutfur Rahman Kajol of BNP, Shahidul Alam Bahadur of Jamaat-e-Islami, Amirul Islam of Islami Andolan, independent candidate Md Ilias Mia with the Football symbol, Nurul Absar of Amjanatar Dal with the Butterfly symbol, and Jagadish Barua of the Labour Party with the Pineapple symbol. In Cox’s Bazar-4, the candidates are Shahjahan Chowdhury of BNP, Nur Ahmed Anwari of Jamaat-e-Islami, Nurul Haque of Islami Andolan, and Saifuddin Khaled of NDM with the Lion symbol.
District Commissioner Md A Mannan said the administration has maintained maximum vigilance and monitoring to ensure voters can cast their ballots in a safe and fear-free environment. He expressed hope that spontaneous voter participation would lead to a peaceful and acceptable election in Cox’s Bazar.
By Abdu Rashid Manik
Photo: Abdu Rashid Manik
