For the first time, at least 41 polling stations across Bangladesh did not register a single vote during the general election marred by violence and the opposition's boycott.
Voter turnout across the country was low during the polls yesterday as 21 people were killed in clashes.
The opposition workers torched over 200 polling centres to derail the vote, described by local media as the bloodiest in the country's history.
A total 41 polling centres in 11 districts went without a single voter, a phenomenon Bangladesh has never before witnessed, The Daily Star newspaper reported.
All the centres were located in areas dominated by main opposition parties like the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Of the polling centres, 27 were alone in Lalmonirhat, while four in Jhenidah, two in Satkhira, and one each in, Feni, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, Chuadanga, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Rajshahi and Sirajganj.
Locals of Mohendranagar village of Lalmonirhat said about 90 per cent people in the area were BNP supporters. So there was no chance for the AL candidate to bag votes there.
The report said Lalmonirhat District's returning officer and Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman declined to comment on the zero turnouts.
The opposition led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the polls after its demand for a neutral caretaker regime for election oversight was rejected. Political violence during strikes and blockades enforced by opposition parties since November have left over 160 people dead.
