Most of the dead were ruling party activists, while others were workers of opposition BNP and its allies

Voting in a tense election to choose a new government in Bangladesh ended on Sunday with at least 17 people killed in poll-related violence amid allegations of manipulation by the ruling Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

According to the Election Commission, 1,848 candidates are contesting for 299 out of 300 Parliament seats. The polls are being held at 40,183 polling stations. Voting was suspended in one seat due to the death of a candidate.

While Hasina is seeking re-election for a fourth term as the prime minister, her chief rival, ex-premier and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khalida Zia, faces an uncertain future in a Dhaka jail.

The EC officials said they have received over a hundred complaints from candidates throughout the country amid reports of violence. At least 17 people, including a member of a security agency, have been killed in eight districts in poll-related violence, with dozens injured.

"I'm always confident about our victory in the elections... I trust my people and I know that they will choose us so that they can get a better life in future," Sheikh Hasina said. At least 10 candidates announced to stay off the polls alleging that their agents were ousted from polling centres by the ruling party workers and that its supporters are facing violence.

EVMs a first in general elections

Bangladesh deployed electronic voting machines for the first time in a general election, though only on a limited scale, a move which received mixed responses from the voters amid reports of glitches in some booths. Six of the 299 constituencies saw the use of EVMs.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</s>Dhaka, Bangladesh - Vote counting was under way on Sunday after Bangladeshis cast their ballots in general elections marred by deadly violence and accusations of irregularities.



At least 17 people were killed in election-related violence in various parts of the South Asian country, a police spokesperson said. But the capital, Dhaka remained relatively calm.

The Daily Star, the leading English-language newspaper, said the deaths occurred mostly because of clashes between supporters of the ruling Awami League and the opposition Jatiya Oikya Front.

Two people were killed during attacks in south-eastern Chittagong and western Rajshahi, the paper reported. One man who tried to steal a ballot box was shot dead by the police in central Cumilla, while another was killed in a fight in the same district, the paper said.

One death was reported in each of the following districts; Dinajpur, Rangamati, Cox's Bazar, Bogura, Gazipur, and Sylhet.

The Daily Star said a member of a law enforcement agency was killed in south-eastern Noakhali.

Mobile internet was shut down and more than 600,000 security personnel were deployed across the country in a bid to check violence following a bloody campaign. But fears of violence kept voters away from the polling stations, according to local media.

About 104 million people were registered to vote in the country's 11th general election. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League hopes to win the vote on the back of rapid economic development during her 10-year rule.

The opposition Jatiya Oikya Front has accused Hasina's Awami League of vote rigging.

"We are getting disturbing reports outside Dhaka that overnight votes have been cast illegally," said Kamal Hossain, who leads the alliance.

More than 40 opposition candidates pulled out of the election after polls opened, citing vote rigging and ballot stuffing, according to the Daily Star.

Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, the joint general-secretary of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the main party in the opposition alliance, called the election a "mockery".

But Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint general-secretary of the ruling party, said he was satisfied with Sunday's vote.

"We are happy with the way the vote turned out. I believe Awami League will gain an absolute victory," he said.

The elections commission, which has yet to announce the voter turnout rate, said it would investigate allegations of vote rigging.

"Allegations are coming from across the country and those are under investigation," SM Asaduzzaman, the spokesman of the elections commission said. 



"If we get any confirmation from our own channels then measures will be taken as per rules." 



Abdul Malik, secretary at the Ministry of Information, said the election was held "peacefully and successfully".

He added: "Results will be announced in collaboration with the election commission."



The Awami League needs 151 seats in the 300-seat parliament to form a government. If Hasina's party wins, she will be taking office for a record fourth time.

The opposition claimed thousands of its activists were arrested in the lead up to the polls.</s>Image copyright Reuters Image caption Voters wait to cast their ballots in Dhaka - elsewhere turnout was reported to be thin

At least 17 people have been killed in clashes between ruling party supporters and the opposition as Bangladesh holds a general election.

Polls have closed and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the overwhelming favourite to win a third term.

But the Bangladesh Election Commission told Reuters it had heard vote-rigging allegations from "across the country" and would investigate.

Ms Hasina's main rival is serving a jail term for corruption.

The build-up to the poll was marred by violence and accusations of a crackdown against the opposition. Some 600,000 security personnel were deployed to prevent clashes.

The authorities ordered high-speed internet be shut down until after the vote to prevent the spread of "rumours" that might spark unrest.

How did voting go?

Minutes before polls opened, a BBC correspondent saw filled ballot boxes at a polling centre in the port city of Chittagong. The presiding officer declined to comment.

Only ruling party polling agents were present at that and several other polling centres in the second largest city of the country.

At least 28 candidates from the main opposition alliance withdrew before polling closed, alleging vote rigging and intimidation.

More than 100 million people were eligible to vote but reports suggest turnout has been low.

The governing Awami League (AL) said that, despite sporadic incidents, voting was held in a festive atmosphere.

The BBC's South Asia regional editor, Anbarasan Ethirajan, says that if the opposition claim of widespread vote rigging is proven, it could question the legitimacy of the new government.

Why is this election important?

Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation of more than 160 million people and faces issues ranging from possibly devastating climate change, Islamist militancy, endemic poverty and corruption.

The country has recently been in the international spotlight as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled there from neighbouring Myanmar.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption PM Sheikh Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, casts her ballot on Sunday

The lead-up to the election saw violence between rival supporters and a crackdown on dissent by a government that critics say has only grown more authoritarian during its 10 years in power.

Activists, observers and the opposition party warned that the vote would not be fair. The governing party has accused the opposition of peddling false claims.

Ms Hasina told the BBC on Friday: "On the one hand, they are placing allegations, on the other hand, they are attacking our party workers, leaders. That is the tragedy in this country."

'Too scared to speak out'

Yogita Limaye, BBC News, Dhaka

As we went from polling booth to polling booth, one pattern became clear. People who were supporters of Prime Minister Hasina's party were vocal, and happy to answer our questions on camera, about what issues they'd voted on. The others were mostly too scared to speak out.

One man told us that several members of his extended family found that their votes had already been cast when they went to the polling booth. He said he didn't think it was a fair election but didn't want to be identified

It wasn't hard to see why he felt intimidated. Outside every polling booth we went to, there were dozens of workers from the prime minister's party, listening intently when anyone was interviewed. No-one from the opposition parties was visible.

While the election commission has said it will investigate claims of vote-rigging, the organisation has itself been accused of bias by the opposition.

So far, the prime minister has not responded to these latest allegations but two days ago rejected claims the election was unfair.

It is widely anticipated that her party will win the polls, but it will be a controversial victory.

Who are the contenders?

Sheikh Hasina's Awami League has run Bangladesh since 2009.

Her long-term rival, Khaleda Zia, was sent to prison on corruption charges earlier this year and barred from competing in the vote, in a case which she claimed was politically motivated.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Security was boosted for the poll amid fears of unrest

In Ms Zia's absence, Kamal Hossain, who was previously both an AL minister and Hasina ally, leads the main opposition grouping, the Jatiya Oikya Front, which includes Ms Zia's Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

However, the 81-year-old lawyer, who drew up the country's constitution, is not standing in the election, raising questions as to who would take power should the opposition win.

The BNP boycotted the last vote in 2014, making Sunday's poll the first to involve all the major parties in 10 years.</s>Seventeen people were killed as violence kept many voters away from the polls STRINGER/REUTERS

Violence and accusations of vote-tampering marred the election in Bangladesh yesterday, as its Election Commission announced that the prime minister had won a third consecutive term.

Seventeen people were killed in protests as the vote counting got under way, amid clashes between supporters of the ruling Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, 71, and activists from the opposition Jatiya Oikya Front, the police said.

Two people were killed in southeastern Chittagong and western Rajshahi, The Daily Star reported. A man who tried to steal a ballot box was shot dead by the police in Comilla and a police officer was killed in southeastern Noakhali. Mobile data was suspended and more than 600,000 troops were deployed to help to prevent further trouble after a turbulent election…</s>Counting has got under way in Bangladesh after parliamentary elections marred by deadly clashes.

The poll is being seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian rule, amid complaints from ruling party and opposition activists of attacks on supporters and candidates.

Ms Hasina’s main rival is former prime minister Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, whom a court deemed ineligible for the race for office because she is in prison for corruption.

The two women have been in and out of power — and prison — for decades.

In Ms Zia’s absence, opposition parties have formed a coalition led by Kamal Hossain, an 82-year-old Oxford-educated lawyer and former member of Ms Hasina’s Awami League party.

The election campaign has been marred by the arrests and jailing of what the opposition says are thousands of Hasina opponents, including six candidates for Parliament. At least a dozen people were killed in campaign-related clashes.

Local media said up to 16 people had been killed on Sunday in clashes between opponents and police in six districts across the country.

“Hasina’s use of the state machinery to subjugate the opposition virtually ensures her electoral victory,” said Sasha Riser-Kositsky, a South Asia analyst for New York-based Eurasia Group.

Both sides are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2014, when Ms Zia and the BNP boycotted elections and voter turnout in the South Asian nation of 160 million people was only 22%. More than half of the 300 parliamentary seats were uncontested. The Awami League’s landslide victory was met by violence that left at least 22 people dead.

This election, some 104 million people are eligible to vote, including many first-time voters.

While rights groups sound the alarms about the erosion of Bangladesh’s democracy, Ms Hasina has promoted a different narrative, highlighting an ambitious economic agenda that has propelled Bangladesh past larger neighbours Pakistan and India by some development measures.

Voters “will give us another opportunity to serve them so that we can maintain our upward trend of development, and take Bangladesh forward as a developing country,” Ms Hasina, who is seeking a third consecutive term, said after casting her ballot along with her daughter and sister in Dhaka.

Walking with a cane, Mr Hossain cast his vote near his home in Dhaka, saying that he was receiving complaints about vote-tampering and intimidation from various parts of the country.

The Associated Press received more than 50 calls on Sunday from people across the country who identified themselves as opposition supporters complaining of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside the polling booths.

Ms Hasina has expressed great confidence in the outcome, already inviting foreign journalists and election observers to her official residence on Monday, by which time the results are expected to be known.

About 600,000 security officials, including army and paramilitary forces, have been deployed across the country in a bid to contain violence in Bangladesh’s 11th general elections. Bangladesh’s telecommunications regulator shut down mobile internet services nationwide to prevent possible protests from being organised.

The normally traffic-clogged streets of the capital were largely empty because of a ban on vehicles for everyone except election observers and journalists. Many residents of Dhaka had left days earlier to vote in their home towns.</s>DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Latest on parliamentary elections in Bangladesh (all times local):

News reports in Bangladesh say there have been deadly clashes related to the country's general election.

Local media including the country's leading Bengali-language daily, Prothom Alo, say up to 10 people were killed in clashes between rival partisans and police in six districts across the country as voting took place Sunday. Police officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press received more than 50 calls from people across the country who identified themselves as opposition supporters complaining of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside polling booths. The AP could not independently verify the complaints.

The election is seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

The polls Sunday in the South Asian nation are seen as a referendum on what critics call 71-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

Hasina's main rival is former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who's in prison for corruption.

In Zia's absence, the opposition is led by Kamal Hossain, an 82-year-old Oxford-educated lawyer and former member of Hasina's Awami League party.

The election campaign has been marred by allegations from the opposition of arrests and jailing of thousands of Hasina opponents.

While rights groups have sounded the alarms about the erosion of Bangladesh's democracy, Hasina has promoted a different narrative, highlighting an ambitious economic agenda that has propelled Bangladesh past larger neighbors Pakistan and India by some development measures.</s>Around 40,000 polling stations in 299 constituencies opened at 8 am on Sunday in Bangladesh for around 104 million eligible voters following the death of two people in clashes amid a large deployment of security forces.

A member of the ruling Awami League party died in a clash with supporters of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami, Patiya Police Chief Niamat Ullah told EFE.</s>DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — People in Bangladesh voted Sunday in parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian rule, amid complaints from both ruling party and opposition…

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — People in Bangladesh voted Sunday in parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian rule, amid complaints from both ruling party and opposition activists of attacks on supporters and candidates. Up to 10 people were reportedly killed in election-related violence.

Hasina’s main rival is former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who a court deemed ineligible to run for office because she is in prison for corruption.

Zia and Hasina, who is seeking a third consecutive term, have been in and out of power — and prison — for decades.

In Zia’s absence, opposition parties have formed a coalition led by Kamal Hossain, an 82-year-old Oxford-educated lawyer and former member of Hasina’s Awami League party.

The Associated Press received more than 50 calls Sunday from people across the country who identified themselves as opposition supporters complaining of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside polling booths.

“Some stray incidents have happened. We have asked our officials to deal with them,” K.M. Nurul Huda, Bangladesh’s chief election commissioner, said as he cast his vote in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital.

The election campaign was marred by the arrests and jailing of what the opposition says are thousands of Hasina opponents, including six candidates for Parliament. At least a dozen people were killed in campaign-related clashes.

“Hasina’s use of the state machinery to subjugate the opposition virtually ensures her electoral victory,” said Sasha Riser-Kositsky, a South Asia analyst for the New York-based Eurasia Group.

Both sides were hoping to avoid a repeat of 2014, when Zia and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted elections and voter turnout in the South Asian nation of 160 million people was only 22 percent. More than half of the 300 parliamentary seats were uncontested. The Awami League’s landslide victory was met by violence that left at least 22 people dead.

In this election, some 104 million people in the Muslim-majority country were eligible to vote, including many young, first-time voters.

Local media including the country’s leading Bengali-language daily, Prothom Alo, said up to 10 people had been killed Sunday in clashes between rival partisans and police in six districts across the country. Police officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

While rights groups have sounded the alarms about the erosion of Bangladesh’s democracy, Hasina has promoted a different narrative, highlighting an ambitious economic agenda that has propelled Bangladesh past larger neighbors Pakistan and India by some development measures.

Voters “will give us another opportunity to serve them so that we can maintain our upward trend of development, and take Bangladesh forward as a developing country,” Hasina said after casting her ballot along with her daughter and sister in Dhaka.

Walking with a cane, Hossain, the opposition leader, cast his vote near his home in Dhaka, saying that he was receiving complaints about vote-tampering and intimidation from various parts of the country.

The more than 40,000 polling stations nationwide closed at 4 p.m., as the Islamic call to prayer came over loudspeakers.

At a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, the counting of the roughly 1,600 votes cast there began immediately after voting ended. Plastic bins full of paper ballots were dumped onto a sheet on the floor, where 10 people sat in a circle to organize and count the votes.

One of the voters there, Haji Abdul Malek Mia, a 74-year-old father of five sons, said he wanted to see someone in power who would offer development. “Whoever is doing development, he should be there,” he said.

Hasina has expressed great confidence in the outcome, already inviting foreign journalists and election observers to her official residence on Monday, by which time the results are expected to be known.

About 600,000 security officials, including army and paramilitary forces, were deployed across the country in a bid to contain violence in Bangladesh’s 11th general election. The country’s telecommunications regulator shut down mobile internet services nationwide to prevent possible protests from organizing.

The normally traffic-clogged streets of the capital were largely empty because of a ban on vehicles for everyone except election observers and journalists. Many Dhaka residents had left days earlier to vote in their hometowns.

At one polling station, Istiaq Ahmed, a doctor in Dhaka, said it was critical that people “select the right government to maintain the development and enrich our country further.”

Another voter, Sultana Rajia Rotna, said she went out to cast her ballot after hearing that the streets of Dhaka were peaceful.

“I think the country has already developed much and it will be developed more,” she said in Bengali. “That’s why I’m here casting my vote.”

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>The alliance dominated by Hasina's Awami League won 287 of the 298 seats for which results have been declared in the 300-member legislature, according to the commission cited by the local TV channel, NTV.

Meanwhile, over 40 opposition politicians withdrew from the parliamentary election citing widespread electoral fraud, local media reported.

Bangladeshi citizens elected 300 members of the country's unicameral legislature earlier on Sunday. The polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (2:00 GMT) and closed at 4:00 p.m. local time.

A total of 47 politicians announced withdrawal of their candidacies from the general election, including at least 42 politicians from the opposition Jatiya Oikya Front (National Unity Front), the Daily Star newspaper reported.

Kamal Hossain, the leader of the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance, in turn, said that the Bangladeshi opposition did not recognize the election's results and requested the holding of another election.

READ MORE: 3G, 4G Restored in Bangladesh After 10-Hour Blackout Ahead of Election — Reports

"We have gotten similar reports of voter fraud from almost all centres… We reject the results and demand a new election under a neutral government," Hossain said as quoted by Bangladesh's Bdnews24 news portal.

At least 17 people were killed and over 60 others were injured in clashes during the parliamentary election in the country on Sunday. The clashes between representatives of various political forces were recorded in the Bangladeshi cities of Chittagong, Comilla, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and Rangamati. As many as nine people have been detained in connection with clashes.

The definitive results are expected to be made public on Monday.</s>DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Latest on parliamentary elections in Bangladesh (all times local):

Officials say voting ended at 4 p.m. Sunday in 299 out of the 300 parliamentary seats. They say they'll continue to allow those who were waiting in line to cast their ballots.

The election in one constituency was postponed after a candidate died of natural causes.

The election is seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

News reports in Bangladesh say there have been deadly clashes related to the country's general election.

Local media including the country's leading Bengali-language daily, Prothom Alo, say up to 10 people were killed in clashes between rival partisans and police in six districts across the country as voting took place Sunday. Police officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press received more than 50 calls from people across the country who identified themselves as opposition supporters complaining of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside polling booths. The AP could not independently verify the complaints.

The election is seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

The polls Sunday in the South Asian nation are seen as a referendum on what critics call 71-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

Hasina's main rival is former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who's in prison for corruption.

In Zia's absence, the opposition is led by Kamal Hossain, an 82-year-old Oxford-educated lawyer and former member of Hasina's Awami League party.

The election campaign has been marred by allegations from the opposition of arrests and jailing of thousands of Hasina opponents.

While rights groups have sounded the alarms about the erosion of Bangladesh's democracy, Hasina has promoted a different narrative, highlighting an ambitious economic agenda that has propelled Bangladesh past larger neighbors Pakistan and India by some development measures.
Voters in Bangladesh head to the polls to elect 299 representatives to parliament. Seventeen people were killed in deadly clashes between supporters and opponents of the country's ruling party.