On Sunday (15 February), Emdadul Haque Barsha, the defeated BNP candidate for Rangpur-4 (Pirgacha-Kaunia), expressed his anger and reportedly uttered a ‘curse’ directed at District Commissioner (DC) and Returning Officer Mohammad Enamul Ahsan at the District Commissioner’s office.
Barsha, who went to the DC’s office to submit complaints, claimed that his votes were ‘stolen’ and that requests for a recount were being delayed under procedural pretexts. He warned of the possibility of result manipulation and demanded that a recount date be announced immediately.
A video of his statements addressed to the DC circulated widely on social media, sparking extensive discussion and criticism.
According to unofficial results of the 13th National Parliament election held on 12 February, Akhtar Hossain of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), contesting with the Shapla Kali symbol, won Rangpur-4 with 149,966 votes. His closest rival, Emdadul Haque Barsha, received 140,564 votes, a margin of 9,402 votes. The total number of rejected ballots in the constituency was 8,263.
Supporters of BNP candidates staged protests outside the District Commissioner’s office, demanding a recount in Rangpur-3 (Sadar), Rangpur-4 (Pirgacha-Kaunia), and Rangpur-6 (Pirganj). The protest was attended by Emdadul Haque Barsha, Shamsuzzaman Samu, and Saiful Islam. Protesters reportedly chanted slogans calling Akhtar Hossain and the DC ‘vote thieves’.
Regarding the incident, Mohammad Enamul Ahsan confirmed that written complaints from BNP candidates for Rangpur-3, 4, and 6 have been received and that the matter has been forwarded to the Election Commission for further instructions.
