Voting begins in Thakurgaon-1 by-election, 5 candidates contesting

Since morning, voter presence has been seen at various centres. At some centres, queues of voters formed before voting began. District Election Officer and Returning Officer Md Kamrul Islam said necessary preparations have been taken to organise a fair and impartial election. Members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed at the centres, and striking and reserve forces have been kept ready.

According to election office sources, among the 185 centres, 113 are in Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila, 33 in Ruhia Upazila and 39 in Bhulli Upazila. The constituency has a total of 515,853 voters. Among them, 257,219 are male, 258,630 female and four transgender voters. In addition, 287 have registered to vote by postal ballot.

Five candidates are finally contesting the by-election. Among them, Mirza Faisal Amin of BNP and Delawar Hossain, the candidate of Jamaat-e-Islami and like-minded parties, are among the most discussed candidates. Among the six whose nominations were valid, BNP district vice-president Md Obaidullah Masud withdrew his candidacy on 5 October following a party decision.

After the election of the President, the seat of Member of Parliament for Thakurgaon-1 constituency Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir became vacant. A by-election was therefore organised. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir won from this seat in the 13th National Parliament election held on 12 February this year. He received 228,075 votes. His nearest rival, Delawar Hossain, received 132,584 votes.