Staggered UP polls begin today

The first-ever elections with part symbols to 718 union parishads in the country are set to be held today, with the oppositions fearing violence, intimidation and rigging.
A day before the polls, the chief election commissioner on Monday expressed his unhappiness about lack of assistance from the administration, police and other bodies involved in the polls.
According to the Election Commission, in the first phase of the staggered elections, 3,043 people are contesting for 718 posts for chairmen, while 25,847 contestants are on the race for the posts of member and 7,575 people are vying for member posts reserved for women.
It said that 1,19,40,741 people enrolled to cast their vote.
The EC said that a total of 14 political parties, including the ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, out of 40 registered parties are participating in the polls as they fielded their chairman candidates.
Member candidates, however, have not been nominated officially by the parties but candidates, backed by AL and BNP, will be contesting for the member positions at almost all wards.
In the first phase, 54 AL-nominated chairman candidates, 179 members and 54 reserved-post women members were elected unopposed unofficially, the commission officials said.
At least 121 chairman aspirants, nominated by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, failed to submit nomination papers allegedly facing obstacles created by AL activists.
Opposition parties, their candidates, independent candidates and many voters fear that ruling Awami League activists may resort to capturing polling stations, stuffing ballot boxes and violence as they did in the recent elections to 234 municipalities and three city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong.
The chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, also said on Monday that the commission was not getting expected assistances of the administration, police and other bodies concerned.
The CEC said that officers-in-charge of the respective police stations would be responsible in case of any violence on the poling day.
‘We’ll take legal action against the respective police officer and officer-in-charge if they fail to control law and order,’ he said, addressing a press conference at the EC secretariat.
He also warned that the commission would accept no irregularities and partisan attitude from the officials involved in the polls and asked the law enforcement agencies to carry out their duties with highest professionalism.
He also urged people to cast their vote without being influenced by any quarters as the commission ‘ensured security for the voters at the polling centres’.
Replying to a question, he said that violence unfortunately took place as a tradition of the country’s voting culture, but ‘miscreants’ would be afraid if the maximum number of voters would turn out to exercise their voting rights.
He said special measures were taken to prevent the stuffing of ballot boxes with fake votes on the night preceding the polling day.
He said polling would start at 8:00am and continue till 4:00pm and the returning officers would announce the number of polled votes in every two hours.
Pre-polls violence was reported also on Sunday night and Monday from different districts.
Early on the day, an independent chairman candidate was shot dead at Gyalenga union under Ruma upazila in Bandarban.
The deceased was identified as Shantiha Tripura, 35, a member of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity.
The death took to nine the number of people killed in pre-polls violence in the first phase of the elections to union councils, the lowest tier of the local government institutions, while several hundred were injured in attacks at places after the commission announced the election schedule.
New Age correspondent in Bandarban reported that Ruma police officer-in-charge Shariful Islam said miscreants picked up Shantiha Tripura from his house and took him to Adika Para about 3:00am.
Later, they shot him dead.
In Gopalganj, miscreants set fire to a house of sadar union AL-nominated chairman candidate Monir Gazi on Sunday night.
The miscreants also torched a house of member candidate Emdad Talukder.
Following the incidents, activists of Monir and Emdad torched houses of independent chairmen candidate Iqbal Gazi and member candidate Hai Mrida.
Sadar police sub-inspector Mukul Hossain said that the police were investigating the matter.
In Satkhira, BNP-nominated chairmen candidate for Kushalia union of Kaligonj upazial Sheikh Ebadul Islam claimed that ruling party men asked his polling agents and activists not to go the polling centres.
‘They threatened my activists with dire consequence if any of my supporters were seen in the polling area,’ Ebadul said, addressing a press conference at Satkhira Press Club on Sunday evening.
In Narsingdi, BNP-nominated chairmen candidate for Gazaria union of Palash upazila M Lal Mia on Monday quitted the race.
At a press conference at his residence, Lal Mia announced that he would not participate in the Tuesday’s UP polls as his supporters and activists were assaulted and threatened by ruling party men.
On Monday, the EC asked the home ministry to withdraw the officer-in-charge of Barura police station in Comilla as the OC violated electoral code of conduct.
Under the first phase, polls of 11 unions will be held on March 23 and those of two others on March 27, the EC officials said.