Oppn cries foul as Hasina wins again

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s alliance has won the Bangladesh general election with a thumping majority even as Opposition parties rejected the “farcical” elections that claimed 18 lives and left over 200 injured, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country.

The ruling Awami League-led coalition has won over 267 seats in the 300-member House, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The Opposition National Unity Front (NUF) led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) - which has been out of power for 12 years and had boycotted the 2014 general election - managed to secure only eight seats.

The Opposition demanded that the EC scrap the “farcical election” and hold a fresh one under a non-partisan interim government.

The NUF is a coalition of parties, including the BNP, Gono Forum, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD, Nagorik Oikya Front and Krishak Sramik Janata League.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who steered the party in the absence of imprisoned former prime minister Khaleda Zia, described the polls as a “cruel farce”. He said free and fair polls were not possible under a partisan government.

The EC confirmed the final result of the constituency in southwestern Gopalganj from where Hasina won, bagging 229,539 votes, while her BNP opponent got only 123 votes.

While Hasina was seeking re-election for the fourth term, her chief rival Zia faces an uncertain future in a Dhaka jail.

EC officials said they have received more than a hundred complaints from candidates amid reports of violence.

At least 18 people have been killed and more than 200 others injured in poll-related violence, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country. Reports said most of the dead were ruling party activists, while others were workers of the BNP or its allies.

More than 6 lakh security personnel were deployed for the election in which 10.41 crore people were eligible to vote.