<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">By-election to Gaibandha-5 constituency will be held on January 4, said Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir Alam on Tuesday.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Elections will be monitored through CCTV cameras as before while voting will be held&nbsp; through electronic voting machines(EVMs) from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, he told reporters after a meeting held at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also said that Dhaka regional election officer Faridul Islam has been appointed as the returning officer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. Accordingly it was scheduled for October 12.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the EC cancelled the election because of "widespread malpractices" on the election day due to rampant irregularities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, a three-member committee was formed to look into the irregularities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following the recommendations of the committee, the Election Commission took punitive actions against 133 officials including an additional deputy commissioner, five sub-inspectors and returning officer of the election.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The candidates of the Gaibandha-5 by-election are-Awami League candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon, Jatiya Party candidate AHM Golam Shaheed Ranju, Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam, independent candidate Nahiduzzaman Nishad and Syed Mahbubur Rahman.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The constituency consists of Saghata and Phulchhari upazila and 339,743 people will exercise their franchise in the polls. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>