Voting for by-election of Sreemangal Upazila Parishad, under Moulvibazar district, began at 8am today in a festive atmosphere.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the current government will not interfere in the next national election.

The second phase of the Union Parishad (UP) elections will be held on November 11. A total of 848 union parishads will go to the polls in the second phase.

The High Court yesterday stayed for two months the process for holding elections to the executive posts of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) on charge of irregularities in the voter-list.

Rail communications from Dhaka to other districts remained halted for around one and an half hour as some ruling Awami League activists set up fires on a railway line demanding punishment of Gazipur City Corporation Mayor Mohammad Zahangir Alam.

Changes in the current electoral system -- in which many are being elected unopposed and voters are showing apathy towards voting -- will not come unless there is a consensus among political parties, said election commissioner Mahbub Talukdar yesterday.

The ruling Awami League finds itself in a strange predicament over local body polls.

Ruling Awami League candidates won 76 percent chairman posts in Monday’s 156 union parishad elections.

At least three people were killed and dozens others injured in clashes between supporters of ruling Awami League’s chairman candidates and party rebels during the final part of the first phase of union parishad polls yesterday.

Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said Bangladesh needs no assistance from the United Nations (UN) to arrange elections since the Election Commission (EC) is capable enough to hold fair and transparent polls.

Two people were killed in violence during union parishad elections in Maheshkhali and Kutubdia upazilas of Cox’s Bazar today.

Prof Pran Gopal Datta, former vice-chancellor of BSMMU, has been declared elected unopposed in Cumilla-7 by-polls this morning.

Voting began in the union parishad elections of 65 unions in Bagerhat this morning.

Five independent and Awami League-backed candidates of the Union Parishad (UP) polls in Noakhali's Hatia Upazila boycotted the election this morning amid allegations of irregularities and fear of clashes.

In an ominous sign for democracy, the practice of a candidate being elected unopposed has gripped the parliamentary by-polls as well as local body polls.

Former BSMMU VC Pran Gopal Datta is set to be announced the MP from Cumilla-7 by polls as the contenders have withdrawn from the race.

The ruling Awami League has warned its dissidents that the rebel candidates in different elections will not get any post in the party.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda left Dhaka this morning for Russia to observe the Federal Assembly elections to the State Duma (lower house of the Federal Assembly).

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said the next general election in the country must be held under a neutral government.

Awami League has nominated Dr Pran Gopal Datta, former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), to contest the Comilla-7 by-election.