Bangladesh waits for the verdict

Dhaka: Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi's queued in lines as the polling for Bangladesh's ninth parliament got under way yesterday amid unprecedented security with troops and police keeping a sharp vigil to avert clashes between rivals.

Under an earlier Election Commission notification, the voting started at 8am. Counting began manually immediately after the end of the polling in 35,263 stations across the country.

The commission officials said they expected the unofficial results to be announced by early tomorrow.

'Peaceful'

The former prime minister Shaikh Hasina's Awami League-led Grand Alliance and her archrival Khalida Zia of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led four party grouping appeared as the major contenders to form the next government after a gap of seven years.

"So far the voting is under way peacefully with huge turn out of voters everywhere after it started four hours ago," Chief Election Coordinator Rafiqul Islam told reporters.

But a local correspondent in southeastern rugged Khagrachhari said tribal party United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), which is contesting from three hill district, tried to oust the aides of rival candidates prompting immediate security intervention.

Voters were enrolled in the country's first ever digital electoral roll with photographs. The election to the 300-seat parliament comes at the end of two years of emergency under an interim government, backed by the army.

No pre-poll violence was reported as electioneering ended on Friday midnight but officials and reports said a number of people were arrested.

Rival candidates at several places allegedly tried to distribute money in city slums in a bid to buy votes ahead of the polls.

"We have witnessed that overnight efforts are underway to manipulate voting using black money by BNP people," said Grand Alliance candidate Fazle Badsha of Workers Party who is contesting from a northwestern Rajshahi constituency.

Hasina and Zia wound up their campaigns with nationwide televised speeches on Saturday evening in a bid to woo young voters.

The Election Commission earlier said some 33 per cent people were enrolled as voters for the first time ahead of the ninth parliamentary elections.

Hasina in her speech sought a "charter for change" of her party-led Grand Alliance but feared that efforts were underway by her rivals to manipulate votes using black money.

"Please do not sell out your conscience to black money...the money they will offer you was looted from you during the rule of the BNP-Jamaat alliance... Reject them in the ballot," she said.

Hasina appreciated the reform campaigns initiated by the interim administration.

Khalida in her speech promised not to seek revenge against the armed forces for her "sufferings during the emergency rules" in the past two years.

"Propaganda is underway that if we form government, the armed forces might be subjected to reprisals for their 'special role' during the state of emergency," she said.

"I want to say unequivocally that we don't believe in taking revenge," she said.