More than half of Bangladesh’s polling centres have been identified as “risk-prone” ahead of the February 12 parliamentary elections, with authorities ramping up security through extensive surveillance and record deployment of law enforcement personnel.
According to officials, nearly 90 per cent of polling centres will be covered by CCTV cameras, while police personnel in Dhaka will be equipped with body-worn cameras. Bangladesh is holding its first general election since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in country-wide protests in August 2024.
Election officials said security arrangements are being finalised based on local risk assessments. “Security deployment is being made based on local sensitivity assessments,” Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah told a media briefing late Tuesday.
The Election Commission (EC) said the polls will see the largest-ever deployment of law enforcement personnel and the most extensive use of technology in the country’s electoral history. Sanaullah said the EC expects security agencies to ensure a peaceful environment during polling and after the elections.
He added that the commission was satisfied with the prevailing law-and-order situation and said “compared to any time in the past, we are in a better position now”.
His remarks came hours after Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam said authorities had identified 24,000 of the nearly 43,000 polling centres nationwide as “high” or “moderate” risk-prone. Police data showed that of 2,131 polling centres in Dhaka, 1,614 were considered risk-prone. However, the army said earlier that it had identified only two centres in the capital as “risky”.
Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd.) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah said nearly 958,000 law enforcement personnel have been deployed nationwide to ensure a free, fair and impartial national election and referendum on Thursday.
“Additionally, for the first time, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), drones, and body-worn cameras are being used for election security,” he told a press briefing on election preparations at Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka’s Agargaon area.
He said voting will be held in 299 constituencies, while polling in Sherpur-3 has been postponed following the death of a candidate. A total of 2,098 executive magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates will be on election duty.
Highlighting the use of technology, the Election Commissioner said, “For the first time, UAVs, drones, and body-worn cameras are being used for law enforcement. Around 25,000 body-worn cameras will be deployed on the field. Some of these are IP-based for live feed, while others will record locally. Moreover, for continuous monitoring, CCTV cameras have already been installed in over 90% of centres.”
He said voting will take place from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, adding that voters already inside polling centres by the closing time would be allowed to cast their ballots. Polling will be held across a total of 42,659 centres.
According to EC data, first-time voters account for about 3.58 per cent of the total electorate of 127,700,597 voters.
The elections are being held alongside a referendum on an 84-point reform package. The main contest is between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami, following the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus disbanding Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and barring it from contesting the polls.
Pre-election surveys conducted over the past two months indicate the BNP is leading, with its chairman Tarique Rahman emerging as the frontrunner for prime minister.
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government was ousted during a student-led violent street protest known as the July Uprising on August 5, 2024.