Voting fair amid some irregularities: NCP

National Citizen Party (NCP) convener and 11-party alliance candidate for Dhaka-11, Md Nahid Islam, on Thursday described the polling process as "fair" and said he was satisfied with the overall conduct of the election. 

Speaking after casting his vote, he urged voters to remain "extremely vigilant in the next few hours" and asserted, "The journey of a new Bangladesh will begin tomorrow through the people's verdict."
His remarks came against the backdrop of a national vote widely viewed as a corrective exercise following criticisms of previous polls. Critics had labelled the 2014 election "one-sided," the 2018 contest a "night vote," and the 2024 ballot an "I dummy election." This year, nearly 130 million citizens participated amid hopes that past allegations of disenfranchisement would not recur.

However, internal party voices presented a contrasting picture. At a press conference in the afternoon, NCP election management committee secretary Monira Sharmin alleged twenty-one irregularities during the voting process. "There has been a tendency to make the vote controversial in various ways. Unpleasant incidents have been happening since 12 noon. The administration is playing an impartial role. Polling agents are being prevented from entering, BNP leaders and activists have occupied the centre," she said. She further claimed that BNP leaders and activists prevented the agents of NCP candidate Nasiruddin Patwari in Dhaka-8 constituency from accessing the Mirza Abbas Women's College centre.

NCP member secretary Akhtar Hossain, speaking after visiting a polling station in the Haragach area of Rangpur-4, raised concerns regarding the integrity of vote tabulation. "If there is fraud in the counting, the people will not accept the results. BNP workers are breaking NCP tables, sticks have been prepared to beat NCP workers," he warned, framing the allegations within the context of electoral legitimacy and public mandate.