Syed Mufti Faizul Karim, the Islami Andolan candidate for Barishal-5 constituency, cast his vote on Thursday morning at Rupatali Government Secondary School in Barishal city. After voting, he expressed concern about possible irregularities but said that so far the process was proceeding smoothly. He urged journalists, the administration, and all concerned to remain vigilant to ensure a peaceful election. He also called on voters to support his party’s electoral symbol, the hand fan.

According to local election data, 36 candidates are contesting across six parliamentary constituencies in Barishal’s ten upazilas. There are 833 polling centers, including 255 marked as highly important and 236 as important. Security arrangements include around 1,500 army personnel, 2,667 police officers, 14 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh, 60 navy members with one vessel, 150 Coast Guard members, and 10,829 Ansar members deployed across the region.

Barishal’s six constituencies have a total of 2,284,978 registered voters, including 1,126,738 women, 1,158,220 men, and 20 third-gender voters.