Shawdesh Desk:

The by-election to Gaibandha-5 constituency will be held on January 4, said Election Commission secretary Md Jahangir Alam on Tuesday.

Elections will be monitored through CCTV cameras as before while voting will be held  through electronic voting machines from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, he told reporters after a meeting at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka.

He also said that Dhaka regional election officer Faridul Islam has been appointed as the returning officer.

Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and deputy speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. Accordingly it was scheduled for October 12.

But the EC cancelled the election because of “widespread malpractices” on the election day due to rampant irregularities.

Later, a three-member committee was formed to look into the irregularities.

Following the recommendations of the committee, the Election Commission took punitive actions against 133 officials including an additional deputy commissioner, five sub-inspectors and returning officer of the election.

The candidates of the Gaibandha-5 by-election are-Awami League candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon, Jatiya Party candidate AHM Golam Shaheed Ranju, Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam, independent candidate Nahiduzzaman Nishad and Syed Mahbubur Rahman.

The constituency consists of Saghata and Phulchhari upazila and 339,743 people will exercise their franchise in the polls.