Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has boycotted Dhaka and Chittagong City elections alleging massive electoral fraud and irregularities by the supporters of pro-Awami League candidates and law enforcers. 

The party withdrew all its candidates from the race of the two Dhaka and Chittagong city elections.

BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed in a press briefing on Tuesday announced the party decision at Nayapaltan central office, about five hours after the voting started in two Dhaka cities and Chittagong city elections.

Moudud claimed that BNP-backed candidates’ agents were beaten and driven out of almost all the polling stations in Dhaka and Chittagong.

'We participated in the election hoping that it will be fair. But the government has made the elections pointless now,' Moudud Ahmed said.

The BNP leader said the Election Commission and the government have failed to carry out their duties alleging law enforcers’ biased role in the elections.

He termed the elections as farce in the name of democracy and claimed that people have boycotted it too.

However, Awami League publicity secretary Hasan Mahmud, in another press briefing on Tuesday refuted Moudud’s claim of vote rigging saying that it was part of BNP’s plan to foil and step back from elections.

Hasan asked the voters to come to the polling stations and cast vote for their favourite candidates.

Moudud was accompanied by BNP-backed mayoral candidate Tabith Awal of Dhaka North City and Afroza Abbas, the wife of the party-backed mayor candidate for Dhaka South City Mirza Abbas, during the press briefing.

Earlier BNP-backed mayoral candidate M Manzur Alam of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) declared to boycott the city polls alleging electoral fraud on Tuesday morning. He announced his retirement from politics too.