{"id":6309,"date":"2026-02-13T01:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6309"},"modified":"2026-02-13T01:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:14:25","slug":"dismal-voter-turnout-exposes-yunus-farce-amid-awami-leagues-boycott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6309","title":{"rendered":"Dismal voter turnout exposes Yunus&#8217; farce amid Awami League\u2019s boycott"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the dust settles on the controversial parliamentary polls on Thursday, images and videos of turnout from polling stations nationwide reveal a stark reality: ordinary voters largely stayed away, heeding the Awami League&#8217;s boycott call and rejecting what critics have dubbed a &#8220;staged farce&#8221; under interim leader Muhammad Yunus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BangladeshElections?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#BangladeshElections<\/a> <br>Open Ballot Rigging Under Center Seizure<br>&#8212;- <br>No one is watching, no one is speaking. In secret rooms, party groups are casting fake votes. From presiding officers to on-duty staff, everyone\u2019s expression seems to say: \u201cThis is exactly how it\u2019s supposed to\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YyxtP4q99f\">pic.twitter.com\/YyxtP4q99f<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bangladesh Awami League (@albd1971) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/albd1971\/status\/2021927159246250176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 12, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Centres stood eerily empty, with security personnel like Ansar members idling, and BGB forces even spotted playing cricket to pass the time. This mass abstention, coupled with viral evidence of pre-dawn ballot stuffing and impersonation fraud, has shredded the election&#8217;s credibility, while the Election Commission (EC) faces accusations of peddling inflated turnout figures to deceive the international community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ghostly Polling Centres<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the capital to remote upazilas, footage shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook captured desolate scenes. In Dhaka-14&#8217;s Mirpur University centre, a journalist&#8217;s video showed no voters in sight, directly contradicting the EC&#8217;s claims of robust participation. Similar emptiness plagued Habiganj-1&#8217;s Gauripur Upazila (Bokainagar Union), where voter presence failed to pick up even as the afternoon wore on, per DBC News reports. In Brahmanbaria-2, Gopalganj (as seen in BBC Bangla clips), Sirajganj-2 (where mosques blared announcements begging for voters), and Rangpur (centres emptying after noon), the story was the same: sparse or zero attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6294\">Sheikh Hasina demands cancellation of election, resignation of Yunus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6304\">After midnight ballot stumping, many could not cast their votes Thursday<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6273\">Midnight Election: Vote stuffing, cash seizures dominate final hours<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One viral <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/albd1971\/status\/2022008343725006868?s=20\">post <\/a>from Dhaka-13&#8217;s Residential Model College centre claimed only five votes had been cast by midday. EU observers, arriving with high hopes, toured vacant booths and left disillusioned, highlighting how the people&#8217;s rejection undermined Yunus&#8217;s media hype. Newspapers like Kaler Kantho reported a meagre 5-10% turnout in Dhaka&#8217;s first three hours, yet EC officials allegedly inflated figures in afternoon briefings to mask the embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Election Commission&#8217;s &#8216;Lies&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The EC&#8217;s data drew sharp ridicule: 14.96% turnout from 32,000 centres between 7:30am and 11am, surging to 32.88% from 32,789 centres by noon\u2014implying an impossible 17.92% spike (over 2 crore votes) in just one hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cCame to the Polling Center \u2014 My Vote Had Already Been Cast\u201d<br><br>Abdus Salam went to Madania Madrasa in Bidaishulbani Mauza to vote, only to find someone else had already cast his ballot. He visited the police, Ansar-VDP, and military, and is now heading to the Election Commission\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EFsn80QMlW\">pic.twitter.com\/EFsn80QMlW<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bangladesh Awami League (@albd1971) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/albd1971\/status\/2021906202272448602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 12, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exiled former PM Sheikh Hasina slammed these as &#8220;fabricated&#8221; to prop up a &#8220;voter-less, illegal farce,&#8221; echoing broader claims of systemic manipulation. By evening, officials pegged overall turnout at 47-49%, but ground reports and viral rigging videos suggested it was artificially boosted through fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6300\">Caught On CCTV Camera: 5 youths seen stuffing ballot box in Mymensingh election<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6297\">Rajshahi\u2019s lone female candidate slapped in public by BNP man on election day<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=6291\">NCP\u2019s Nasiruddin Patwary threatens to diminish BNP from the country<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This mirrors patterns from earlier reports: In Bhluka (Mymensingh-11), a quiet morning with low voter presence gave way to afternoon ballot stamping frenzies, including CCTV-captured youths stuffing boxes. Nationwide, symbols like BNP&#8217;s paddy sheaves and Jamaat&#8217;s scales were allegedly pre-sealed in bulk before dawn, filling boxes in districts like Narayanganj, Jhenaidah, Noakhali, and Sylhet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Rigging Rampant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The boycott&#8217;s success was compounded by irregularities that deterred even willing participants. Thousands arrived to find their votes already cast\u2014a hallmark of overnight stuffing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Nilphamari-2, a voter discovered agents had marked his ballot while he waited in line; in Rajshahi, 75-year-old Abdul Malek was told his vote was done. Abdus Salam in Bidaishulbani Mauza (Madania Madrasa) faced the same escalating complaints to the police, the military, and the EC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sylhet-1 Polling Centers Empty &#8211; Not Even Journalists Find Voters<br><br>\u201cThere is no voter turnout; I haven\u2019t been able to capture any footage yet,\u201d says veteran journalist Probin, covering elections since 1991.<br><br>By 12:22 p.m., polling centers were still empty. Even he had to leave \u2014\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8EoIKXyzgh\">pic.twitter.com\/8EoIKXyzgh<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bangladesh Awami League (@albd1971) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/albd1971\/status\/2021891196898226343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 12, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Women&#8217;s booths weren&#8217;t spared: In Bhola, an agent of BNP candidate Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partha was accused of infiltrating a female booth to cast fake votes, exposing security lapses. Minority voters, like Hindus in Banshkhali&#8217;s Kalipur Ejharul Haque High School, were outright barred, with one woman tearfully questioning, &#8220;Are we not human?&#8221; Pre-stamped ballots handed out\u2014often with &#8220;scale&#8221; or &#8220;paddy sheaf&#8221; symbols\u2014further fueled fraud claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Clashes between BNP and Jamaat supporters in Mirpur-10 and Sylhet added to the volatility, amid mutual rigging accusations. In Patuakhali, broken CCTVs enabled impersonation, while elderly voters like 92-year-old Chhaya found their names erased from lists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the dust settles on the controversial parliamentary polls on Thursday, images and videos of turnout from polling stations nationwide reveal a stark reality: ordinary voters largely stayed away, heeding&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,646,1207,20,42],"tags":[77,51,913,50,71,54,65,56,1590,1318,63,64],"class_list":["post-6309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-culture","category-emergency","category-news","category-politics","tag-awami-league","tag-election","tag-election-commission-ec","tag-interim-government","tag-islami-chhatra-shibir","tag-jamaat-e-islami","tag-mobocracy","tag-muhammad-yunus","tag-no-boat-no-vote","tag-referendum","tag-sheikh-hasina","tag-yunus-gang"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6314,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309\/revisions\/6314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}