The Election Working Group (EWG), an alliance of 28 civil society organisations, yesterday said the municipality polls could not be called "questionable" event though some incidents of irregularities and violence took place during the vote Wednesday.

A vacation bench of the High Court yesterday dropped from its hearing list a petition that challenged the legality of

The Election Commission and the ruling Awami League claimed yesterday's municipal polls were free and fair except for some stray incidents. The AL, however, accused the police of causing some of the incidents.

Thirty-six municipal mayor candidates of different political parties, including one from the ruling Awami League, pulled out of the electoral race yesterday alleging vote rigging by AL men and use of influence by local administrations.

The BNP has rejected the results of yesterday's municipal polls, alleging widespread vote-rigging, ballot-stuffing and capture of more than a thousand polling stations by the ruling party men.

Mayoral candidates of the ruling Awami League clinched a landslide victory in yesterday's election to 234 municipalities amid allegations of widespread electoral irregularities. AL candidates secured 179 mayoral posts while their rivals from the BNP got 21. And AL rebels obtained 19 posts. Ruling party men resorted to electoral irregularities in at least 80 municipalities with the local administration looking on. They stuffed ballot boxes and drove BNP candidates' agents out of polling centres, according to reports from The Daily Star correspondents.

Elections are test times. Today, it's a crucial credibility and popularity test for the major political players.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday directed polling officers and law enforcers to take action against those involved in irregularities during the voting today.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad hopes the municipal elections will be held in a festive mode.

With the rise of violence ahead of tomorrow's municipality election, civil society organisation SHUJAN yesterday expressed doubts about whether the vote would be free, fair and transparent.

A fire broke out at St Mark Church in Fulchera village of Srimangal upazila under Moulvibazar district early yesterday, five days after in-

The Jatiya Party has provided the EC with a list of 1,500 vulnerable polling stations and demanded that adequate security measures be taken for the centres.

As the municipality election is only around a week away, all mayoral candidates in Rangunia and Sitakunda municipalities of Chittagong are busy campaigning with their election pledges from early morning to midnight.

A man stabbed his wife and mother-in-law over family dispute at Basil village in Bhaluka upazila of the district on Sunday night.

The High Court yesterday stayed the process of Gafargaon Pourasava election, which is scheduled for December 30,

The Election Commission seeks a 24-hour restriction on movement of all sorts of motorised vehicles from early hours of December 30 in municipal areas that go to polls on that day.

Golam Mohiuddin Khan and Syed Mesbahuddin have been elected president and secretary general of a faction of Bangladesh Federal Union

Ruling Awami League assessed that AL-nominated mayor aspirants were ahead in around 200 municipalities out of the 234 going to polls on December 30.

Police want restrictions on journalists' access to polling stations in the December 30 municipal polls, but the Election Commission has

Stating that the Hindu community remains vulnerable to attacks before and after any election, leaders of Bangladesh