Bangladesh will go to the polls tomorrow to choose a new parliament though the credibility of the election has been hit by a boycott by the main opposition BNP, whose supporters today launched a 48-hour nationwide strike.
Two persons were killed and scores of polling booths and a train were set on fire as opposition activists enforced the strike in a last ditch attempt to scuttle the polls, which Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia described as a "stigmatised farce".
Officials said all preparations had been completed for the general election despite the boycott by opposition parties.
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Without the participation of the BNP and its allies, polling will be held in only 147 of 300 constituencies, Election Commission (EC) officials said. Candidates in other constituencies would be declared elected unopposed.
A total of 390 candidates, mostly from the Awami League and its ally Jatiya Party, are contesting from 147 seats where the number of voters is nearly 44 million.
The EC has put in place strict security measures in all 18,208 polling centres, especially in over 13,000 booths that have been declared "vulnerable". Over 3.5 lakh security personnel have been deployed to ensure the polls are conducted smoothly, a senior official said.
State media reported that nearly 450 magistrates will be deployed to assist security forces to maintain law and order.
"The EC has ensured adequate security arrangement across the country so that voters can exercise their rights without any fear," Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin told the media.
The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance decided to boycott the polls after the Awami League rejected its demands to set up a non-party caretaker government. Political violence during nationwide strikes and blockades enforced by the opposition since November have left nearly 140 people dead and crippled the economy.
Opposition parties had demanded that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should step down so that the polls could be overseen by a non-party caretaker set-up.
Rejecting the opposition's demands, Hasina insisted that the vote will go ahead as planned. However, she said she would be willing to dissolve the new parliament after the polls and hold fresh elections if the BNP gives up violence and cuts its ties with the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami.
