Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister (PM) of Bangladesh, secured a third term and took over as the PM of the Country, today.
Bangladesh conducted its Parliamentary elections, on Sunday (the 30th of December.) Sheikh Hasina, the President of Bangladesh Awami League (BAL,) secured a total of 287 seats out of the 298 seats, whereas the opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP,) managed to win six seats.
The BNP challenged Ms. Hasina’s victory and claimed the voting process to be ‘farcical.’ They alleged the votes were mutilated during violence and there was fraudulent voting.
Kamal Hossain, a leader of the National Unity Front, an alliance of the BNP, said, “The whole election was completely manipulated, it should be cancelled.” He further added, “We’ve had bad elections in the past but I must say that it is unprecedented how bad this particular election was. The minimum requirements of free and fair election(s) are absent.”
Kamal Hossain also said, “Candidates reported witnessing ballot-stuffing and vote-rigging by ruling party activists, who also barred opposition polling agents from voting centres. We call upon the Election Commission to declare this election void and demand a fresh election under a nonpartisan government.”
Although the BAL denied all the accusations, the Election Commission (EC,) based on the allegations made by the BNP, will investigate the allegations about the votes being rigged and will declare the voter turnout, on Monday.
The EC also said, fresh polls will be conducted in the constituency where 18 people were killed during the polls. Bangladesh, a country consisting of 165 million Muslims, conducted its Parliamentary elections for a total of 300 seats.
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, took to Twitter and congratulated Sheikh Hasina upon her victory in the Bangladesh elections.
Spoke to Sheikh Hasina Ji and congratulated her on the resounding victory in the Bangladesh elections.
Wished her the very best for the tenure ahead.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 31, 2018
