The BDB leaders said they will seek legal action from the High Court as the government violated its order for deploying army at all polling centres.

The party gave its instant reaction to the by-polls at a press conference an hour before voting ended at 4:00pm.

Former president and BDB chief AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, Abdul Mannan, secretary general of the party and candidate in the by-polls, and newly elected lawmaker from the party Mahi B Chowdhury spoke at the conference held at National Press Club.

"The election was robbed. It was not a case of simple rigging. We boycott the election and demand its cancellation. If it is not done, we will challenge it in the High Court on Saturday," said Mannan.

Badruddoza said the government wanted to defeat his party in the by-elction but it 'defeated people' by rigging the polls. The ruling BNP yesterday broke its previous record of rigging the Magura by-polls and has damaged its image beyond repair, he said.

The BDB leaders alleged the ruling alliance men occupied around 100 polling centres out of 103 and prevented general voters from coming to polling centres.

The party submitted a four-point memorandum to the Election Commission (EC) and officially rejected the election. The four points concern non-deployment of army at all polling centres, threats and barriers to voters in entering polling centres, assault on polling agents and massive rigging and attack on Mannan at a polling centre.

Mannan claimed he would have bagged about 95 percent votes had the government not manipulated the election. He asked journalists to conduct a survey among voters of the constituency to verify his popularity.

Mahi said the prime minister has ruined all her political achievements just to get her favourite man elected. The by-election marked the death of democracy, he added.

BNP lawmakers Moshiur Rahman, Joynal Abedin Faruk, Ataur Rahman Angur, Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pintu, Elius Ali and Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury Anny, accompanied by armed cadres, stormed the polling centres and drove away the election agents of Mannan, Mahi alleged.

He said BNP's Office Secretary Emran Saleh Prince, City BNP General Secretary Abdus Salam, Dhaka City Corporation commissioners Hasan, Jahangir, Chowdhury Alam, Anwaruzzaman and Ahmed Hossain, Jaityatabadi Juba Dal leader Saiful Alam Nirob, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal cadres Royal, Khair Bhuiyan and Shishir, Badda BNP leader Mahfuz and Berait BNP leader Ali Hossain prevented voters from casting votes at different centres.