& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

147 JS Seats up for Voting

Election amid fears today

Star Report
In an unprecedented manner, Bangladesh today holds a one-sided general election that is unlikely to end the present political crisis and violence that has
already cost at least 120 lives in less than two months.
Boycotted by the main opposition BNP, the election has already seen 153 candidates elected unopposed, meaning more than half the country's 9.19 crore voters did not get to cast ballots.
The violence that has continued unabated in recent months intensified on the eve of the polling day with around 100 voting centres, mostly schools, burned down by opposition activists across the country.
The outcome of this election had been sealed weeks before. The ruling Awami League has already won 123 of the total 300 seats uncontested and will smoothly sail past the magic number of 151 seats required to form a government, as its opponents are mere minnows and hardly tasted victory in any previous elections.
The BNP that formed government thrice under its leader Khaleda Zia has shunned the polls, citing that an election under a political government headed by Sheikh Hasina promises no fair voting.
Unlike in most other elections in the past, the atmosphere is dull and lacks festivity.
Many voters are either unaware of the candidates or clueless whether there will be any election in their constituencies or the candidates have already been elected unopposed.
In Dhaka city, election will be held for only eight of the 15 seats.
Apart from today's polls, there have
been crises over general election on two occasions since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
In 1996, the AL boycotted the February 15 polls, waging a movement to introduce the caretaker government system to oversee elections. The short-lived parliament formed through the polls led to another election in June the same year widely considered as unblemished.
The election in 2001 also sailed through under a caretaker government. But then in 2007, the BNP tried to tweak the system to have its person of choice at the helm of the caretaker government.
The situation became so volatile that the election couldn't be held and an army-backed caretaker government took over and stayed in power for two years until an election in December 2008.
Five years down the line, democracy once again faces a challenge, tougher than ever before, as the Hasina-led government cancelled the very caretaker government system that she had fought for so vigorously.
And after a gap of around 18 years, the country is again going to an election under a political government.
Many of the opposition leaders have been detained or arrested, and many others are on the run. Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia has been confined to her residence.
The Jatiya Party led by former dictator HM Ershad looked to be the only cognisable partner of the AL in the election. But since Ershad changed his mind in favour of boycotting one-sided polls, the government has kept him confined to a hospital on the pretext of providing him medical treatment.
The BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-lslami have unleashed violence never seen before in the country to press for installation of a non-partisan government.
In December alone, at least 80 people were killed and more than 850 people wounded in arson attacks and clashes.
None of the western countries has sent any election observer, as they believe that this election excluding the BNP will not be credible.