Voters in Netrokona-4 had high hopes for a tough race as three women with graduate degrees were running for parliament from there.

But the situation on the ground was just like in any other constituency in Bangladesh. Ruling party men, in cases helped by law enforcers, were virtually controlling the electioneering and supporters of opposition candidates were panicking.

During 12 days of campaigning, 15 cases were filed with three police stations accusing over 1,000 BNP men of sabotage and subversive activities. Local BNP leaders claimed those were false cases.

Former BNP home minister Lutfuzzaman Babar's son Labib Zaman was also accused in three such cases.

Incumbent Rebecca Momin, wife of Awami League's former food minister Abdul Momin; and Tahmina Zaman, wife of Babar, are running in the constituency that had elected their husbands. The other female candidate Joly Talukder of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) is a well-known workers' leader.

Voters claimed that they were expecting a tough fight in the haor-based constituency, consisting of Mohanganj, Madan, and Khaliajuri upazilas, that have been lagging behind in terms of development.

In the constituency about 30km away from Netrakona town, this correspondent saw vigorous electioneering by the ruling party men and hardly any campaign activity of the BNP.

The BNP's Mohanganj upazila office on Monday was found closed. Locals said the office had been closed for several days.

“There are problems,” was all that Sujan Mia, a tea seller nearby, agreed to say.

Some 100 metres away, the Awami League office was fully functional. SMA Ferdous, organising secretary of Mohanganj upazila AL, said their campaigning was going well.

“Every day, Rebecca Momin is visiting people in different areas and asking for votes. Besides, our area-based camps are also working.”

Another 23 kilometres away at Babar's house in Madan upazila, a few posters and banners of Tahmina Zaman were seen.

A marquee was set up and around 100 BNP leaders and activists were seen seated.

The BNP men said their electioneering has been on hold for the last seven days amid police harassment; they could only campaign in three unions.

“We are on the run. Almost all our leaders are accused and police are carrying out raids regularly,” said Mustafizur Rahman Titu, a BNP leader. Around 65 of their activists have been arrested since campaigning began, he added.

Nurul Alam, president of Madan upazila BNP, claimed they were on a road-show on December 15 when police suddenly prevented their rally and attacked them in Kaitail union.

“But three cases were filed against us the next day. Our leader's son Labib, who came from Dhaka only to take part in the campaign for his mother, was made the prime accused,” said Alam.

According to the case statement, police fired 61 shots and one gas canister on that day.

Alam said police and DB raided Babar's house on the night of December 16. “Is this a level-playing field?”

Of the 15 cases, nine were filed with Madan Police Station. The Daily Star obtained copies of the nine. Noteworthy, the cases filed on December 18, 22, and 23 all have the same text but the names, places, times and dates have been changed.

Refuting allegations, Ramijul Haque, officer-in-charge of Madan Police Station, said the cases were filed on valid grounds.

BNP men said they are confident of victory in the constituency, if a fair election is held. AL men said Rebecca's honesty and promises of development were their strengths.

The AL and BNP have fought hard for this seat since 1991. Babar won the race in 1991, while Momin won the next in 1996. Babar again won in 2001, while Momin's wife Rebecca won the polls in 2008. In 2014, Rebecca won uncontested.

The BNP has virtually been sidelined in its Lakshmipur stronghold while its rival Awami League's campaigning has been going on in full swing.

Posters and campaigning by the Jatiya Oikyafront, the alliance of which the BNP is a component, can hardly be seen anywhere in the four constituencies of the district.

During a recent visit, The Daily Star spoke to 40 voters in Lakshmipur-3 and Lakshmipur-1 and talked to sources in the other two.

“The scenario is quite unusual. An eerie calm is prevailing. We fear violence in the days ahead,” said 45-year old Mohammad Harun, a rickshaw puller of Sadar upazila under Lakshmipur-3.

“The district is a base of the BNP, but the party is cornered,” said another local at a tea stall.

Their fears seem logical as BNP leaders have said they would take to the street on polls day to stop “vote rigging”.

Since 1991, the BNP bagged all the seats in the district, except once (Lakshmipur-4 in 1996). The BNP did not take part in the 2014 polls.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal Chief ASM Abdur Rab, who defeated the BNP candidate in 1996, is running this year as a candidate of the Jatiya Oikyafront.

Rezaul Karim Liton, general secretary of the district Jubo Dal, alleged that voters were being intimidated and that they were not being allowed to hang posters.

“Whenever our activists try to campaign, our loud speakers are taken away by force. All these are spreading a sense of panic among voters,” he said.

“We will guard the polling centre, whatever the situation becomes.”

On Monday, Abu Taher, former general secretary of AL district unit and also the mayor of Lakshmipur municipality, threatened voters of dire consequence if they did not vote for “boat”.

"Cast your votes properly. I will be at the chairman post for two and a half more years. The roads will be dug up at night and the drains will be destroyed," Taher said at an election rally in the area in front of 200-250 people.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shahjahan Kamal is running with the AL ticket against BNP Publicity Affairs Secretary Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury Annie in Lakshmipur-3.

This correspondent saw Annie's posters in some areas of Lakshmipur-3 but posters of Oikyafront candidate and Liberal Democratic Party leader Shahadat Hossain Selim was hardly seen in Lakshmipur-1.

Numerous posters of the boat symbol were seen on roads and in rural markets in both constituencies.

Talking to The Daily Star, some local BNP leaders in Lakshmipur-1 said they cannot stay home at night as police often carries out raids.

"Police have openly taken the side of 'boat'. They have asked several of my campaigners to leave the areas, threatening to shoot them in the leg otherwise," Oikyafront candidate Shahadat Hossain Selim told The Daily Star. 

"I have submitted six to seven complaints to the returning officer but they did not take any action," he added.

He alleged that AL men attacked his village home in Karpara area but police did not take any step to arrest the attackers.

Shafiq Mahmud Pintu, president of Ramganj upazila unit AL, said he did not hear about any incident of attack or violence in the upazila.

Contacted, Tota Mia, officer-in-charge of Ramganj Police Station under Lakshmipur-1, said the allegation against the police was baseless.

"There is a good election atmosphere here and all candidates are campaigning."

National issues have been dominating the election campaigns of the Awami League and BNP mayor candidates in the Khulna and Gazipur city polls.

As the two cities are going to polls along party lines on May 15 for the first time, the four mayor hopefuls of the two major parties have been talking about the national issues to woo voters.

Besides, central leaders campaigning for their party colleagues are also brining many national issues to the fore.

The AL leaders are reminding voters about the BNP-Jamaat's alleged violence before and after the January 5, 2014 parliamentary polls and the “failure” of the incumbent BNP-backed mayors in carrying out development works in the two cities.

Highlighting the government's development projects, the AL candidates argue that voters should elect mayors from the ruling party to help the government continue the development works.

However, the BNP candidates have been telling voters that they should take the election as an opportunity to protest against the “government's misdeeds as it has destroyed all the democratic institutions in the country and indulged in corruption”.

The mayor hopefuls are trying to convince voters that victories in the polls will intensify the BNP's ongoing movement to free party Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail. The former prime minister is now behind bars in a graft case.

However, election experts said the way the electioneering is taking place in Khulna and Gazipur cities, it seems that a national election is going to be held there. According to them, campaigns of councillor aspirants failed to attract voters' attention as the councillor polls are non-partisan.

AL mayoral candidate in Khulna Talukder Abdul Khaleque said carrying out development works locally was not possible without the support from the government.

“Rampal power plant, Mongla Port and other national development projects will surely have an impact on Khulna city. So it is very natural that national issues will dominate the electoral campaign here.”

He also said as the AL was in power, carrying out development works in Khulna city would be easy if the mayor was elected from the ruling party.

Mayor hopeful Nazrul Islam Monju of BNP said he was stressing that people should cast their votes to “get back their voting rights”. “In our polls campaign, we are focusing on Khaleda Zia's release and the local issues. People are just waiting for a chance to show no-confidence in the government and Khulna city election will bring them one such chance.”

Hasan Uddin Sarker, mayoral candidate of BNP in Gazipur, said, “I am urging voters to cast their votes for an experienced and tested candidate. As the election is being held along party lines, I am focusing on the government's misdeeds and the local issues.”

Local government expert Tofail Ahmed said a mayor should be elected from the elected councillors to strengthen the local government. Only then the local issues will get priority during polls campaigns.

As the parliamentary election is only a few months away, it is quite normal that the ruling party candidates will try to get advantage of the government's major development projects and the opposition party will try to focus on the government's failures, he added.

Former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Shakhawat Hossain said the central leaders of the political parties were picking the mayor candidates and also taking part in the polls campaigns.

“When the central leaders join the electioneering, they focus more on national issues. The party candidates and their supporters have nothing to do but follow the tone set by the central leaders,” he told The Daily Star.

The central leaders' involvement in the process should be stopped to make an election to a local government body a local election in true sense, he observed.

At least 15 people were injured and 13 others arrested over violence in two districts yesterday, two days before the 11th parliamentary polls.

In Noakhali, three youths were injured in an explosion while making bombs in Companiganj upazila's Chairman Bari area in the morning, police said.

Law enforcers could not confirm the identities of the injured.

Polls violence subsided yesterday as the number of such incidents and casualties decreased compared to the last few days.

Meanwhile, Awami League Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak yesterday alleged that six ruling party men were killed by BNP men during electioneering.

“BNP men attacked and injured 445 leaders and activists of our party and vandalised 174 election camps. We urge the police to arrest these hoodlums,” Nanak said at a press conference at the AL chief's Dhanmondi office in the capital.

According to media reports, motorcades and polls campaigns of at least 56 candidates, mostly of the BNP's, came under attack; some 1,190 people were injured and over 800 BNP-Jamaat men arrested during the electioneering between December 10 and 28 for the parliamentary polls.

Campaigning for tomorrow's national election ended at 8:00am yesterday.

At least 15 people were wounded in a clash between supporters of AL nominee Kazi Zafarullah and independent candidate Mujibur Rahman Chowdhury, widely known as Nixon Chowdhury, in Faridpur-4 yesterday over establishing supremacy in Bhanga upazila's Moheshwardi village.

Witnesses said supporters of the two rival candidates were campaigning informally in the village around noon. At one stage, they got involved in an altercation and clashed using lethal weapons.

Police and BGB teams later rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Talking to journalists, Nixon's supporter Md Azam alleged that two supporters of Zafarullah beat him up without provocation.

Ashad Matubbar, supporter of the AL candidate, claimed Azam phoned him and threatened not to seek vote for ZafarUllah.

Both the rival groups denied the allegations against each other.

Additional policemen were deployed in the area to avoid further violence.

In Chandpur, police picked up 13 alleged BNP men following a clash between “criminals” and the opposition party men at the Rupsha house of Chandpur-4 BNP candidate Harunur Rashid in Faridganj upazila around noon.

Witness said a group of bike-riding criminals reached near Rashid's house and attacked it. As the BNP men tried to resist the attackers, the clash broke out.

Police later brought the situation under control.

Faridganj OC Ohidul Islam said they picked up 13 people in connection with the incident. The BNP claimed the arrestees to be its activists.

In Sunamganj, police arrested BNP leaders Abdul Motaleb Khan, also chairman of Dharmapasha upazila, and Harunur Rashid, former general secretary of Dowarabazar upazila BNP yesterday evening.

Police said the two were accused in sabotage cases.

N'GANJ CANDIDATE QUITS RACE

In Narayanganj-3, independent candidate Abdullah Al Kaiser last night announced that he was withdrawing from the polls in the face of pressure from the administration and considering the security of his supporters.

He made the announcement while talking to journalists at his Mograpara home in Sonargaon upazila around 9:00pm, hours after a joint team of police, BGB and Rab, led by an executive magistrate, raided his house.

Sazzad Roman, inspector (Special Branch) of Narayanganj police, said the raid was conducted on information that Kaiser was holding a “secret meeting” to commit subversive activities.

Shahinur Rahman, assistant returning officer in the district, said he didn't receive any compliant from any candidate about facing pressure from the administration.

In Tangail-3, BNP candidate Lutfar Rahman Khan Azad at a press conference yesterday demanded withdrawal of Maksudul Alam and Amirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ghatail Police Station and in-charge of Dhalapara Police Outpost, for allegedly threatening his possible polling agents not to go to the polling centres on the voting day.

Amirul, however, denied the allegation.

Despite repeated attempts, The Daily Star could not reach Maksudul over the phone for comments.

In Cumilla, police were forced to release an AL man after the ruling party activists laid seize to Kotwali Model Police Station yesterday.

Police detained Syed Raihan, 40, son of local AL leader Abir Ahmed Photo, also a ward councillor of Cumilla City Corporation, in the city around 2:00pm.

Hearing the news, around 500 AL men laid seize to the police station. Law enforcers freed the detainee around 4:45pm, said locals.

Talking to journalists, Abir said, “Police detained Raihan from Mogoltuli area after Juma prayers without any specific allegation. Locals protested the incident and laid seize to the police station demanding his release.”

Abu Salam Mia, OC of the police station, said Raihan was detained due to a “misunderstanding”.

In Meherpur, criminals hurled two bombs at the house of district BNP Joint Secretary Abdul Awal Biswas in Gangni upazila's Bamundi village around 9:30pm on Thursday.

On the same night, Faridpur police in separate drives arrested seven BNP men from different areas of Boalmari Municipality.

Our district correspondents contributed to this report. 

Children in Jashore's Malopara village still have nightmares of people coming to attack them. And with the election on the horizon, panic has spread even among the adults.

It stems from their experience of the election day on January 5, 2014, when Jamat-Shibir and BNP men unleashed their fury in a series of mindless attacks on the locals. 

They vandalised 130 houses of the Hindu community and torched 10 more in Malopara because the villagers had dared to cast votes. The attackers also looted valuables from the Hindu houses, the locals said.

Although many of the Jamaat-BNP men involved in those attacks have been arrested or are  on the run, a sense of foreboding prevails, particularly among the women and children of the village fishing community living on the banks of the Bhairab river. 

At least two families of the village have sent their young women to their relatives' homes as the polls near.

“I tried to convince my wife to stay home, but she insisted not to take any risk. I gave in to her resolve and sent her to a relative's house in Coat Chandpur in Jhenidah on Wednesday,” said Laltu Sarkar, a local.

Sumoti Sarkar, 14, and Sathi Sarkar, 7, two daughters of his elder brother also accompanied Laltu's wife.

Now an eight-grader, Sumoti was then a class VI student when 300 to 400 Jamaat-Shibir and BNP men wielding sharp weapons and hockey sticks attacked Malopara in Abhoynagar upazila in 2014.

Some 600 Hindus, including women and children, had to flee their village and seek shelter on the other side of the river. While many crossed the river by boats, others swam across.

“Sumoti is so traumatised that she still has nightmares of people coming to attack us,” Kali Dashi Sarkar, mother of Sumoti, told this correspondent while visiting the village on Wednesday.

The hallmark of the attack can still be seen on the tin-roof of Sumoti's house.

That was the third and final attack of the day that came following a rumour that Shibir activist Abu Bakkar had been beaten and killed by the Hindus.

Asked why people still feared the attacks as Jamaat-Shibir and BNP men were out of the area due to police raids, a number of villagers said it was because some of those attackers still roamed around the area freely.

Besides, some attackers had now engaged with the local Awami League, they added.

Earlier, the Jamaat-Shibir men attacked twice, but the residents had managed to resist them from entering the village, said Bishwajit Sarkar.

In the first attack, Bishwajit and five others, including Shyamol Biswas, Kamal Sarkar, Sunil Biswas and Susil Sarkar were seriously beaten.

Their second attempt to enter the village was thwarted by villagers, locals said.

Abhoynagar police lodged a case naming 39 accused. After investigation, police submitted a charge sheet accusing 100 people 16 FIR names were dropped.

A number of villagers said many who took part in the attacks were not made accused in the charge sheet. Some of those charge-sheeted secured bails.

Bishwajit, general secretary of ward-9 unit of Prembagh union, said the government had rebuilt 46 houses and renovated 26 others.

The prime minister visited the village on January 23 that year and before her visit they were also brought under national grid while the government built a primary school after purchasing a piece of land. A temporary police camp was built in the village, but they want it to be a permanent one.

Bishwajit said now they wanted to meet the PM as some of their demands -- for a permanent police camp, creation of jobs, lease of a nearby water body -- were still not fulfilled.