The radical Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed concern over “massive manipulation” in at least 30 constituencies, demanding immediate vote recounts and suspension of results, and vowed to play the role of an effective opposition party in parliament with 77 members of its 11-party alliance.
While its appeals are pending with the Election Commission, the Jamaat-led 11-party unity has called for a protest rally in the capital to condemn post-election violence, torture, oppression, murder and rape across the country. Jamaat Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman will address the rally as the chief guest at the Baitul Mukarram North Gate at 4:30pm on Monday.
Jamaat says the people of Bangladesh expected a clean and beautiful election. But even after polling ended, agents were ejected from centres in numerous places. There were discrepancies in vote counting, unnatural delays in result announcements, and biased behaviourโall raising grave suspicions.
In an official statement, the party also detailed how results in some seats were declared as late as 5am, while others were rushed suspiciously fast, particularly in close races with margins of 5,000 to 10,000 votes. Written complaints have been filed with returning officers and the EC, but gazettes were published “before any resolution,” vowing “all legal steps necessary” to challenge the outcomes.
Dhaka-6 candidate Dr. Abdul Mannan amplified the charges, brandishing copies of result sheets to expose alleged forgeries: “In some centers, printed forms were replaced with handwritten scraps. Polling agents’ signatures are missing, or unknown names are listed as agents. One center even used pencil for talliesโa blatant red flag.”
Despite overnight appeals to halt results, he said, they were ignored, underscoring what Jamaat calls a “premeditated assault on the mandate.”
These allegations align with a wave of similar reports flooding media outlets, painting a picture of systemic fraud that has deepened animosities between the election’s key players. Prothom Alo and The Daily Star reported parallel claims from BNP candidates, whoโironically, as the landslide victorsโhave turned on Jamaat in razor-thin defeats.
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In Rajshahi-1, BNP’s Major General (Retd.) Sharif Uddin accused Jamaat rival Mojibur Rahman of benefiting from biased presiding officers who invalidated nearly 8,000 valid votes, manipulated postal ballots, and shifted boxes to sub-district offices for “arbitrary counting.”
Similarly, in Pabna-3 and Pabna-4, BNP’s Hasan Zafir Tuhin and Habibur Rahman Habib protested at the DC office, alleging irregularities that handed narrow wins to Jamaat’s Muhammad Ali Asghar and Abu Taleb Mondol, respectivelyโprompting BNP activists to besiege administrative offices.
The rivalry has turned personal and venomous. AB Party’s Asaduzzaman Fuad, an 11-party alliance candidate in Barishal-3, lambasted BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman in a Barisal press club briefing (covered by Bangla Tribune), warning of a “terrible future” if he fails to rein in “neo-Awami fascist thugs, goons, mastans, extortionists, and terrorists” within BNP ranksโaccusing them of “char occupation”-style center seizures and fake voting that doomed his bid against BNP’s Joynul Abedin.
Fuad’s barbs drew a sharp retort from BNP’s Mirza Abbas, who, after his Dhaka-8 win (as per Jugantor), expressed “astonishment” at NCP’s Nasiruddin Patwary’s vote haul, implying “behind-the-scenes manipulation” by a “group with no real base,” fueling speculation of NCP-Jamaat collusion.
NCP, part of the anti-BNP 11-party bloc, has fired back amid its own losses. Convener Nahid Islam alleged in a late-night Jamaat office meeting (reported by bdnews24.com) that 10% of votes were rigged during counting, with results “targeted and altered” in multiple seatsโpointing fingers at BNP’s “vote engineering” machine.
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In Cumilla-4, BNP-backed Gono Adhikar Parishad’s A. Jasim Uddin echoed this, claiming NCP’s Hasnat Abdullah orchestrated weapon-wielding intimidation and late-night ballot stuffing, per viral videos shared on Facebook and cited in Prothom Alo.
Even BNP insiders have turned accusatory. Joint General Secretary Syed Emran Saleh Prince rejected his Mymensingh-1 loss, alleging pre-poll cash bribes and forced signatures favoring independents, while Dhaka-16’s Aminul Haque decried “election engineering” propping up Jamaat’s Abdul Baten.
In the Dhaka-13 constituency, the 11-party’s Mamunul Haque (Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis) slammed “deliberate overwriting” and 4,381 invalidations as favoritism toward BNP, per his EC complaint (The Independent).
Jubayer tied these feuds to post-poll chaos, noting “deaths and injuries” in clashes across districts like Chapainawabganj and Munshiganj, where HRSS reported over 200 incidents. “We expected a violence-free culture in the new Bangladesh,” he said, “but the top seat-winner [BNP] shows no visible action.”
Jamaat’s Amir, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, at a rally in Kishoreganj, urged BNP cooperation but warned of opposition scrutiny, subtly jabbing at “inconsistencies” without directly naming anyoneโyet his post-meeting huddle with Tarique Rahman hints at an uneasy dรฉtente amid the barbs.
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