The Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) is intensifying coordinated efforts to manipulate and rig the February 12 elections across Bangladesh, according to reports from intelligence agencies operating in the country.
The reports suggest that the party, worried about its electoral prospects, is resorting to a range of tactics to boost its performance and emerge as a significant political force. Intelligence officials claim the move comes at a time when the Awami League, the country’s largest political party, has already been pushed out of the electoral arena, allegedly through the combined efforts of the Jamaat and the interim administration.
According to an intelligence officer, the alleged strategy includes large-scale voter migration from constituencies where the party has little chance of winning to areas where it expects stronger prospects against rivals, particularly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
“Firstly, the JeI is undertaking a massive migration of voters from constituencies where it has no chance of winning to those where it hopes to present a challenge to the BNP, or even to overcome that party through means fair and foul,” the officer said.
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The reports also allege that party supporters are collecting identity cards of women voters to enable fraudulent voting, exploiting the lack of provisions requiring burqa-clad women to verify their identities at polling stations.
“Secondly, the party has been working to collect identity cards of women voters, so that these can be used across the board to conduct bogus voting on a massive scale,” the officer added.
Intelligence inputs further claim that JeI supporters have been instructed to queue outside polling booths in large numbers from early morning and continuously replenish their presence. The alleged aim is to delay voters from other parties, especially the BNP, and prevent them from casting their votes.
Additionally, the reports claim that a section of the Bangladesh Army may be sympathetic to the Jamaat. Intelligence sources allege that nearly one-third of army personnel are aligned with the party, and that some senior officers in the Jessore and Rangpur divisions have been canvassing support for the Jamaat.
There has been no official response from the Jamaat-e-Islami or the Bangladesh Army regarding these allegations.
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