DNCC by-poll result was fixed last night: Rizvi

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has said the outcome of the Dhaka North City Corporation mayoral by-polls had already been decided on the eve of the election.

“The result of today’s election was fixed last night. Ballots have already been cast in favour of the ruling party’s candidate,” said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a media briefing on Thursday afternoon.

The BNP leader also alleged that the ballot boxes were undoubtedly stuffed last night. “They will only announce the outcome today.”

BNP along with its allies and most other parties avoided the election after losing the December 30 parliamentary polls by a huge margin to the Awami League.

Referring to the low turnouts in the polls, the BNP leader said, “Look at the state of the city today. Is there any heated competition anywhere? Elections are a festival in our country. Are there any signs of festivities?”

He alleged that the ruling Awami League government has ‘killed’ the spirit of competition in democracy.

“They have turned Bangladesh into an autocratic nation. They have staged this election to maintain the façade of a democracy. They are trying to perform plastic surgery to cover their face of autocracy with democracy,” said Rizvi.

“But they’re failing to do that. The face of an autocrat is so cruel and ruthless that it can’t be masked through a plastic surgery. It always reveals itself,” he added.