‘No plan for army deployment in Gazipur, Khulna city polls’

Staff Correspondent: The Election Commission (EC) has ruled out BNP’s demand regarding army deployment seven days before the elections to Gazipur and Khulna city corporations.

The decision came at a meeting held between a delegation of BNP and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda at the Election Bhaban in the capital's Agargaon on Tuesday.

“We have no plan to deploy army in local elections for the time being,” EC acting Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.

Earlier this morning, a delegation, led by standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, met Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda and placed a number of demands.

The demands include army deployment seven days before the elections to Gazipur and Khulna city corporations, immediate removal of Gazipur Police Super (SP) Mohammad Harun-Or-Rashid, stopping the use of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

The EC secretary said the Commission will take legal action regarding some proposals. Specially, security issues at polling stations, creating a level-playing field for all political parties and maintaining neutrality in the elections will be considered positively.

A decision regarding the demand of removal of a controversial police official will be taken at the Commission’s next meeting, Helal Uddin said.


risingbd/Dhaka/April 17, 2018/Hasibul/AI