Dhaka: The ruling Awami League-led grand alliance government has shown its all-out desperation in influencing the Election Commission for making Azmat Ullah victorious at any cost.

As part of the election engineering for ensuring Azmat win at any price, the AL-led government has motivated the EC nakedly in appointing 101 former AL and BCL leaders as presiding officers in all the centres of Gazipur City Corporation election, reports Bangla daily Kaler Kantho on Tuesday.

All the EC appointed presiding officers are active leaders of the ruling Awami League and Bangladesh Chhatra League. The naked appointments of ruling party activists for conducting the all-important Gazipur election ahead of national elections have already raised numerous questions about the AL-appointed EC’s motive to manipulate the election results. And such a naked administrative move has laid bare the EC and the government intention, said a central BNP leader and an adviser to opposition BNP backed candidate MA Mannan.

He said, “The EC is plotting to make Azmat victorious at any cost. It is now almost clear that the AL-led government and EC would do everything for win as they have already got the message from Gazipur voters, most of whom are garment workers who would certainly vote against the AL-led government backed Azmat and rather vote for Mannan. So the AL in connivance with EC is plotting to hijack the people’s mandate by staging an administrative coup by their partisan people.”

Out of 101 presiding officers, 90 of them have been appointed from the National University and all of them are former but still very much active with AL and BCL politics, reported Kaler Kantho. Nine of the Presiding officers are active members of Bangabandhu Parishad Bangladesh Agriculture University unit.

Moreover violating the Electoral Code of Conduct, the ruling Awami League has deployed around 70 leaders and party MPs for the election campaigning and they are quite nakedly misusing the whole state machineries for Azmat Ullah’s campaigning which are gross violation of the Electoral Code of Conduct, said election observers.

Maznu Mia has been appointed as Presiding Officer who was the former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League of Bangladesh Agricultural University unit. He is now working as Assistant Registrar of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University located in Gazipur.

Md Shahadat Hossain, another presiding officer, was the president of BCL at Haji Danesh Agricultural University unit.  

Jahangir Alam, another presiding officer, was a former BCL leader of Tangail district unit and also a niece of Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzak. He has been working as a section officer at Haji Danesh Agricultural University.

And all the three are now active members of Bangabandhu Parishad of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University located in Gazipur. And nine Bangabandhu Parishad members of the university have been appointed as Presiding Officers for conducting the maiden Gazipur city polls.

Following appointment of around 90 active members of ruling party men for conducting polls have raised numerous questions and allegation of plotting election engineering to make Azmat victorious at any price.

For election campaigning the ruling AL has deployed hundreds of central AL leaders and around 70 lawmakers violating the Electoral Code of Conduct and the ruling party men are illegally misusing all the state machineries for polls campaigning for Azmat showing desperation.

Moreover, Health Secretary MM Neaz, Bangladesh Islamic Foundation Director  General Shamim Mohammad Afzal, Bangladesh Medical Association Secretary General Dr Iqbal Arsalan, Agricultural  Research Institute’s senior scientific officer Madan Kumar Shaha have been desperately taking part in election campaign for AL backed candidate Azmat Ullah violating the Government Service Rule and Electoral Code of Conduct quite nakedly. Now Gazipur people are quite sure about the government and EC intention to manipulate the election results and administrative coup to hijack the people’s mandate in Gazipur.

The local administration is also heavily tilted towards Azmat and playing role for making him victorious at any cost.   

Allegations are swirling all around that AL Presidium member Mohammad Nasim, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, former bureaucrat and AL central committee member Alauddin Mohammad Nasim are playing the key role for manipulation of the administration for plotting AL victory by misusing the state machinery from a Uttara Sector-9 building named ‘Rose Garden’.

All the BCL leaders and 70 MPs are availing the government facilities and misusing all the state machineries for their election campaign purposes, alleged BNP backed candidate Mannan who had filed several complaints with the EC, but AL-appointed CEC is indifferent and turning blind eye to all the allegations of electoral code violations and favouring the AL-backed candidates quite nakedly making his intention clear to Gazipur people and polls monitors.

Ends/AMA/02/07/13