Voting ends in 2nd phase of UP polls

The second phase of the Union Parishad (UP) elections in 639 unions of 47 districts ended this afternoon.

The voting began at 8:00am today and ended around 4:00pm without any break.

Voters are seen marching towards the polling stations to cast their votes.

The polls come a week into the first phase of the elections where nearly 732 UPs went to polls. 

Over 1.12 crore voters will be eligible to exercise their vote today under nearly 6,200 polling stations.

A total of 2,662 candidates for chairman posts are in the election race and over 27,757 contenders for member posts in the second phase.

The UP polls are being held on partisan lines for the first time.

Out of 725 UPs that went to the polls last week, candidates nominated by the AL won in 540 unions, the BNP in 47 unions, and the Jatiya Party in four unions while independent candidates and other parties sealed victory in the remaining unions.

Also READ: Fear of violence high

In the first phase of the polls on March 22, clashes between rival chairman candidates took place in some unions, killing around two dozen people and wounding several hundred others. Also, the voting was largely marred by electoral irregularities and ballot-stuffing.

At that time, violence was reported from the unions of the southern districts -- Satkhira, Barisal, Bhola, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Cox's Bazar and Jhalakathi.

Elections to around 621 UPs will be held on April 23 in the third phase and 743 UPs on May 7 in the fourth phase. Some 1,400 more UPs will go to the polls in two other phases till June.