Nasiruddin Patwari, the candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance for the Dhaka-8 constituency, alleged irregularities and bias by presiding officers during the 13th National Parliamentary Election. Speaking to journalists after visiting the Segunbagicha High School polling center on Thursday afternoon, he claimed that his polling agents were obstructed and that voting was conducted unfairly in several centers.

Patwari stated that at Mirza Abbas Mohila College, his agent was confined for nearly three hours and that voting for female voters was deliberately slowed. He further alleged that the presiding officer at the Railway Colony center, identified as Mohammad Russell, a deputy director at Bangladesh Bank, was working in favor of the BNP’s ‘sheaf of paddy’ symbol. Patwari also claimed that some voters were prevented from leaving polling centers after voting and were given separate slips.

He said he verbally informed army officials about the incidents but had not filed a written complaint. Patwari added that ballot papers already marked with the BNP symbol were found in several areas and that his agents were expelled from polling centers. He said his coalition would decide later whether to accept the election results.