The Awami League candidate has won the by-election in the (thern) district of Bhola by an overwhelming margin. The BNP has challenged the outcome. Even with such a strong, ringing public endorsement, the proceedings were not marked with civility and respect.
Widely shared anecdotal evidence of voter intimidation and physical violence besmirched the election. Specific, actionable intelligence on ballot stuffing forced the election commission to suspend voting in nine voting centers, which all coincidentally happened to be in the same subdistrict. To prove the generally accepted point that there was more wide-spread corruption, the BNP claimed outright that there was more widespread corruption and rejected the electoral outcome and demanded that a fresh election be scheduled.
This by-election was considered the bell-wether event to signal the strength and deftness of political gamesmanship of the two main opposing parties. Amid, arguments and counter-allegations, the parties have sought to register their complaints to the voters of the Bhola-3 constituency, and through them , the country as a whole. Each party has intimidated its opposition, though as the ruling party, the Awami League surely had incumbency and, thereby, first mover advantage. Now, it seems the rancor and dissembling that’s run through the election is a signal that politics in Bangladesh will continue in that vein for some time to come. For as long as the pie– resting nervously on the edge of a ill-made table, resisting all offers for its disembowelment– is small, the fight for each melancholy, blue, green, piece will be a vicious, desperate affair.
