Vote rigging persisted after July Uprising

Cumilla-4 lawmaker and National Citizen Party Chief Organiser for the southern region Hasnat Abdullah on Friday alleged that electoral manipulation had continued even after the July Uprising.

Speaking at the NCP’s “July March” programme in Noakhali town, Hasnat claimed that vote rigging had been common before the uprising and had now taken a different form.

Referring to the 2014 and 2018 general elections as “midnight elections”, he alleged that votes had been manipulated before the official results were announced.

“This time, we saw a new mechanism. Electoral fraud occurred again, but after the results were announced,” he said.

Hasnat claimed that although around 70 percent of voters had supported the “Yes” option in the referendum, the BNP had “snatched” the mandate by failing to implement the reforms approved by voters.

A referendum on constitutional reforms was held alongside Bangladesh’s February 2026 parliamentary election, with reports indicating that more than 70 percent of participants voted in favour of the proposed changes.

The Noakhali district unit of the NCP organised the programme to demand implementation of the referendum mandate, measures to resolve the electricity crisis, control rising commodity prices, create more jobs and strengthen border security.

Addressing the BNP, Hasnat said the government would not be able to govern effectively or implement reforms by ignoring the younger generation.

“If you think you can run the country alone, you are wrong. If you think you can push through reforms against the people’s will, you are making a mistake,” he said.

Hasnat also criticised the government’s employment record, saying it had promised to create one crore jobs but had failed to generate new employment opportunities during its first six months in office.

“There is no sign of any new recruitment notice either,” he added.

Noakhali-6 lawmaker and NCP leader Abdul Hannan Masud and the party’s central Joint Convener Ali Ahsan Junaid were among those present at the programme.