AL men thronging outside polling centres and at every step from a polling centre’s gate to the entrance of polling booths -- was the scenario across different polling centres in Dhaka-7 and 10 constituencies yesterday.

There was a large  presence of  Awami League supporters inside and outside some polling centres in the first four hours of voting in the Dhaka-6 constituency yesterday.

ECs in Bangladesh have historically faced controversies

CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed says the first phase of union parishad elections are held in a free, fair and peaceful manner except some isolated incidents of irregularities.

Some polling centres in Savar municipality recorded an abnormally high turnout yesterday although the presence of voters was visibly thin.

Clashes, ballot occupation and allegations of forced balloting mark the start of country’s maiden municipality polls under political banners.

The Election Working Group (EWG), a non-partisan network of 28 leading civil society organisations in Bangladesh, says the city corporation elections are not credible due to malpractices and irregularities.