His nearest rival, Professor MA Mannan, a nominee of the ruling alliance, lost to a candidate without any previous political or election experience. In contrast, Mannan had previous experience. This raises the question: does political experience influence voters' decision? Apparently not as this poll had shown. At the other end, we have the example of Munshiganj by-poll where a Member of Parliament (MP) who later resigned won against his rival who had no significant political experience. The case of Dhaka by-poll is different because of the way it was conducted which made it a subject of considerable public controversy that ended up in a legal battle, which is on.

Previous speculations
There was a spate of speculations on the outcome of Gazipur poll. Based on quick and dirty assessment of opinion poll prior to the elections, many reports were published in the media.

First, it was speculated that the ruling party candidate would win because the local voters would like to see development in the locality. In their perception, the candidate of a ruling party once voted to power would be better able to ensure development in the constituency.

Second, Mannan is a popular candidate with previous experience. Besides, he fought the last election as an independent having failed to get nomination from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and even as an independent candidate he secured good number of voters but lost to late lamented Ashanullah Master. Third, as a corollary to the above, it was further speculated that in the recently concluded by-poll, Mannan would have the advantage of his own vote-bank and that of the ruling coalition parties. Added together, it would form an invincible basket of votes.

In contrast, there was very little in favour of the young and upcoming Russel except the love, admiration and confidence that his late father enjoyed in the constituency. It was reported that the tragic assassination of the law-maker Ashanullah Master would swing people's sympathy in favour of Russel. Now that Rassel had won with a big margin, at issue is whether this was the only decisive factor in the by-poll.

It is difficult to provide any precise answer. What remains clear, however, is the fact that widespread public sympathy did contribute to the victory in the polls. But there must be other factors also, not the least of which is the organisational ability of the AL, in particular, at the local level with support from the central level. Prior to the polls, the newspaper reports were replete with news items with photographs of Russel who opted for a door to door campaign flanked by the leaders of local public opinion belonging to AL. It must have been an arduous task for him and his comrades in the campaign for votes.

The organisational ability of AL, in particular, at the local level, was reflected by the fact that, prior to the polls, objections were raised against appointment of about 21 polling officers, who belonged to a local institution. It was alleged that those officers belonged to or otherwise known as party activists of the ruling coalition government. This news was highlighted by the media. The central and local leaders, as reported in the media, met the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Returning Officer (RO) of Gazipur and requested him for corrective actions to prevent possible rigging.

It must be said to the credit of the DC, who is also the RO that he immediately agreed to a prompt inquiry to ascertain the validity of the allegations thus made on behalf of the AL candidate. Was the inclusion of the alleged party activists done deliberately? This issue was also raised and it was clarified through the press that the Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Tongi joined his duties only a few days back and as such he was not fully aware of full information. Indeed, the issue raised was promptly attended to by the DC and RO.

Lessons learnt
There are at least three lessons to be learnt from the above incident. First, there is need for the political parties, in particular those in opposition, to be vigilant on all aspects of electioneering. Second, there is equal need for the DC and RO to play a proactive role in the operation and management of elections. In the instant case, these two factors combined to create necessary conditions for pre-emptive actions against possible rigging.

A third factor must also be mentioned. It is the ever vigilant and highly proactive role that the media had played in this regard. Indeed, many doubt that without the relevant news being flashed in the media, very little or no action would probably be taken.

Proactive role of the media
The proactive role of the media should always be welcome by the election administration because such a role provides additional channels of valuable information that helps in taking preventive and corrective actions for ensuring free and fair polls.

The other examples of the proactive role of the media includes field visits by as many as 23 journalists. These journalists belonging to a Bengali daily included photo journalists also. As reported by the same daily, they visited as many as 112 polling centers to have an on-the-spot assessment of how election was being conducted. The total number of polling centers was said to be 195. Thus the team of journalists from the said daily covered more than 57 percent of the total number of polling centers. Others from different newspapers and the electronic media also joined.

Ninety-six polling stations or about 49 percent of the total were identified as risky from the viewpoint of law and order. The newspaper reports confirm the vigilance exercised by the election administration. Election officers, police and Ansars were highly watchful. The armed forces personnel, the magistrates deployed for holding mobile courts for on-the-spot trial of offenders were particularly visible. Equally visible were the ladies and gentlemen of the press, non-government election observers like FEMA, Brotee, Janipap and a number of foreign observers.

Some ominous signs
It has been reported that there were a few instances of fake votes. DC's briefing to newsmen indicated that actions were also taken whenever any case of violation was detected. Few such cases led to sentences of conviction not exceeding 15 days. Worse still, despite heavy security arrangements, at some places, the members of minority community were victims of intimidation. These black spots notwithstanding, the percentage of votes cast is more than 56 percent. This is reasonably high despite the fact that floods affected a good number of unions in the constituency and further that in by-polls, the turn-out of voters is generally lower than in the original polls.

Example set by rivals
Indeed, one of the illuminating lessons learnt from this poll is the attitude of friendliness and amiability shown and made visible by Russel and his nearest rival Mannan. At the concluding part of the polls, the two rival candidates embraced one another with smiling faces, bereft of any bickering or hard feelings. The example set by them is worthy of emulation by all those who wish to or will participate in future elections. It is also a lesson for the top leaders of all political parties who now are engaged in a perpetual state of confrontational politics.

At the end, the citizens have a satisfying feeling that all stakeholders, in particular the media and the election administration, have set a national standard of free and fair polls. Can this silver lining remove, once and for all, the dark clouds that perpetually appear to hang over our electoral system?

A M M Shawkat Ali, PhD is former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture