Over 32 per cent voter turnout recorded till noon in crucial Bangladesh polls
Dhaka (PTI): Over 32 per cent of the electorate voted till noon in the crucial parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, marred by sporadic incidents of violence.
Voting was continuing in all centres despite isolated incidents in different parts of the country, Bangladesh Election Commission Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said at a briefing.
He said that 32.88 per cent voter turnout was recorded at 32,789 polling centres till 12 pm, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
“So far, voting has not been suspended in any polling centre. There is no alarming situation,” he told reporters.
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The voting started in 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies across the country from 7:30 am (local time) and will continue until 4:30 pm. The counting of votes is expected to begin shortly after the voting concludes.
The top leaders of Bangladesh's two major contending parties, as well as interim chief Muhammad Yunus, cast their ballots early in the day.
Tarique Rahman, chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has emerged as the forerunner, cast his vote at the Gulshan Model School and College centre in Dhaka's upscale Gulshan area.
"I have exercised my constitutional right to vote. For more than a decade, the people of Bangladesh have been waiting for this day," Rahman said, emerging from the polling centre.
Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, BNP's once ally and now main contender, cast his vote at the Monipur Uchcha Vidyalaya and College.
Voting in one constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a candidate.
The 13th parliamentary elections are being held simultaneously along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.
The Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements, deploying nearly 1 million security personnel -- the largest-ever in the country's electoral history.
The contest is mainly between the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of Hasina's now-disbanded Awami League. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' interim government last year disbanded the Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.
Meanwhile, there have been reports of electoral violence from multiple places.
In Gopalganj, three persons, including a 13-year-old girl, have been injured in an alleged hand bomb attack at a polling station, BDnews24 reported.
The blast occurred around 9 am on Thursday at the Reshma International School centre at Nichupara. Two members of the Ansar, a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for election security, were among those hurt. The injured have been taken to a hospital.
Zahirul Islam, the presiding officer at the polling station, said the injuries were minor and that voting resumed shortly afterwards.
In a separate incident, a series of hand bomb explosions have taken place outside a polling station in the Munshiganj-3 constituency, temporarily disrupting voting.
The blasts occurred around 10:15 am on Thursday in front of the Makhati Gurucharan High School centre. Between 10 and 12 crude bombs were detonated, officials said. Voting at the centre was suspended for around 15 minutes.
Presiding Officer Md Titumir said the explosions caused panic among voters.
"We stopped voting briefly, but it has now started again and people are casting their ballots,” he said.
Also, a BNP leader has died during an altercation with Jamaat-e-Islami activists outside a polling centre in Khulna.
The BNP says that he died when a Jamaat leader “pushed him” into a tree and hurt him. The Jamaat leader claims that the victim “fell ill” amid the unrest.
The victim has been identified as Mohibuzzaman Kochi, 55, a former office secretary of the Khulna city unit of the BNP.
A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are contesting the election. The BNP has fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. There are 83 female candidates.
Yunus, who has promised to quickly transfer power to the elected government, has urged the political parties, candidates and other concerned parties to maintain restraint, tolerance and democratic behaviour on the polling day.
In a televised address to the nation on the eve of the polling, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin called upon the voters to cast their votes freely. He urged political parties, candidates, and voters to maintain a peaceful and cordial environment.
He said that representatives from 45 countries and organisations, including election management bodies and international institutions, are observing the polls.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Machud said nearly 9,00,000 law enforcement personnel have been deployed to ensure security during the election, state-run BSS news agency reported.
Authorities have deployed Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Rapid Action Teams (RATs) across key areas of the capital.
Police said they have provided a list of risk-prone polling centres to the EC, which showed that out of 2,131 polling centres in Dhaka, 1,614 were risk-prone. However, the army said they have identified two centres in Dhaka city to be "risky".
For the first time, drones and body-worn cameras are being used for election security.
EC data showed that first-time voters made up some 3.58 per cent of the nearly 127 million voters.
For the first time, nearly 8,00,000 expatriate Bangladeshis, who have registered with the poll body, will be able to vote through an IT-based postal ballot system.
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has called upon all citizens to exercise their franchise by going to their respective polling stations and casting their votes for candidates of their choice.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Rahman said, "Dear pro-democracy brothers and sisters, I request everyone to exercise their voting rights in a festive and peaceful environment. Vote for whomever you deem fit. Vote according to your own choice, and ensure your state rights and ownership."
"Insha'Allah, from tomorrow, your Members of Parliament will take on the responsibility of serving you. I will take on the duty of ensuring that every victorious candidate of the sheaf of paddy (Dhaner Shis) properly fulfills their responsibilities," he added.
Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government, speaking to reporters after voting, described the day as one of “great joy,” calling it “the birthday of the new Bangladesh.”
He said the nation had “completely renounced the nightmarish past” and urged citizens to participate in both the parliamentary election and the referendum. He concluded his remarks by extending greetings to the nation, saying “Eid Mubarak.”
Also, overnight clashes were reported in Bangladesh.
Three persons have been arrested by police on allegations of distributing ballot paper photocopies among activists of a party at Kalai area of northwestern Joypurhat, Ittefaq newspaper reported.
The Daily Star reported “ballot stuffing allegations spark clash between Jamaat and BNP activists” in northeastern Sylhet’s Balaganj sub-district where a local Jamaat leader and several others entered a polling centre at around midnight when BNP activists rushed resulting in scuffles requiring security interventions.
The BNP nominee there alleged ballot stamping had begun at 11:00 pm with the presiding officer's help.
In capital Dhaka, police arrested a Jamaat leader over buying votes while crude bombs were exploded near seven polling centres in southwestern Gopalganj hours before voting..
In a midnight Faceboook statement, Jamaat Ameer or chief Shafiqur Rahman called the incidents as “rumours” urging people to ignore them saying “dear countrymen, a ‘laylatul gujob’ (night of rumours) is underway, don’t pay a heed to them”.
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India clears procurement of 114 Rafale jets, other acquisition projects totalling Rs 3.6 lakh cr
New Delhi (PTI): The defence ministry on Thursday cleared a long-pending proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets under a government-to-government framework with France, nearly 13 years after a similar acquisition was almost firmed up but it could not be sealed.
In total, capital acquisition of military hardware worth Rs 3.60 lakh crore was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, to enhance the combat readiness of defence forces, according to an official readout.
Under the project, 18 aircraft will be supplied by Dassault Aviation, the maker of Rafale, in a fly away condition and the rest will be manufactured in India with over 50 per cent indigenous that will be to be met in phases, sources said.
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Though the defence ministry did not provide the cost of the procurement, it is expected to be in the range of Rs 2.90 lakh crore to Rs 3.15 lakh crore.
The approval for procurement of the Rafale jets came just four days ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to India.
However, a formal contract to seal the deal is unlikely before the end of the year as the defence ministry will now have to carry out negotiations with Dassault Aviation to finalise the cost and finer details of the weapons package.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also have to give a final approval to the acquisition programme.
In April 2019, the Indian Air Force issued an RFI (Request for Information), or initial tender to acquire 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) at a cost of around USD 18 billion.
It was billed as one of the world's biggest military procurement programmes in recent years.
The other contenders for the mega project included Lockheed Martin's F-21, Boeing's F/A-18 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The move to procure the jets has come at a time when the number of the Indian Air Force's fighter squadrons have gone down to 31 from officially sanctioned strength of 42.
Nearly 13 years ago, the defence ministry had completed ground work for procurement of a fleet of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
However, the project didn't go through.
In 2015, the Modi government announced a government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale fighters in the face of rapidly declining squadron strength of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The IAF currently operates these Rafale jets.
"The Defence Acquisition Council, under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for various proposals of the Services at an estimated value of about Rs 3.60 lakh crore," the defence ministry said.
"For the Indian Air Force, AoN was approved for the procurement of Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) Rafale, combat missiles and air-ship based high altitude pseudo satellite (AS-HAPS)," it said.
The ministry said procurement of MRFA will enhance the capability of undertaking air dominance roles across the spectrum of conflict and significantly boost the deterrence capabilities of the IAF with long range offensive strikes.
"The majority of MRFA to be procured will be manufactured in India. The Combat Missiles will enhance the stand-off ground attack capability with deep strike power and very high accuracy," it said.
The ministry said the AS-HAPS will be utilised towards carrying out persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic intelligence, telecommunication and remote sensing for military purposes.
For the Indian Army, AoN was accorded for the procurement of anti-tank mines (Vibhav) and overhaul of Vehicle Platforms of Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs), T-72 Tanks and Infantry Combat Vehicles (BMP-II).
Vibhav mines will be laid as an anti-tank obstacle system to delay the advance of enemy mechanized forces, the ministry said.
The overhaul of vehicle platforms of ARVs, T-72 Tanks and BMP-II will enhance service life of equipment ensuring readiness and operational effectiveness of the Indian Army, it said.
For the Indian Navy, approval was accorded for four MW Marine Gas Turbine based electric power generator and P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft.
Induction of four MW marine gas turbine based electric power generator under Make-I category of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 will minimise the dependency on foreign manufacturers, ensure self-reliance in power generation requirement of Indian Navy.
The acquisition of P8I aircraft will significantly boost the Navy's war-fighting capability of long-range anti-submarine warfare, maritime surveillance and maritime strike capability.
