INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAFP/GettyImage caption
Sheikh Hasina has ruled Bangladesh as prime minister since 2009
Bangladesh is voting in a general election, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking her third consecutive term in office.Security forces
are on high alert, with some 600,000 security personnel deployed across the nation
More than 100m people are eligible to vote.More than a dozen people have been killed in clashes between supporters of rival political
parties.Ms Hasina is expected to win, while her main rival is in jail for corruption.High-speed mobile internet has been ordered to be shut
down until after the elections, a decision made to prevent rumours and propaganda from triggering unrest, an official said.Shortly before
polls opened, a TheIndianSubcontinent correspondent saw filled ballot boxes at a polling centre in the port city of Chittagong (Lalkhan
Bazar, Chittagong 10 constituency).When the presiding officer of the centre was asked about them, he declined to comment
Only ruling party polling agents were present at that and several other polling centres in the second largest city of the country.Why is
this election important Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation of more than 160 million people and faces issues ranging from possibly
devastating climate change to endemic poverty and corruption.Since an Islamic State-claimed attack on an upscale bakery in the capital Dhaka
in July 2016, the government has responded with an iron fist to put down Islamist militancy
The country has recently been in the international spotlight as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled there from neighbouring
The government has been praised internationally for taking them in but faces sharp criticism for its human rights record in other areas.The
polls also come months after tens of thousands young people took to the streets in large numbers to protest about road deaths - in a rare
show of fury that the authorities and pro-government groups put down with force
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Protests went on for several days after two students were killed by a bus
"All we want is corruption to be gone and driving licences to stop being handed out like candy," one 17-year-old told the
TheIndianSubcontinent in August
The lead-up to the election has been marked by violence and a crackdown on dissent by a government that critics say has only grown more
authoritarian during its 10 years in power.Who are the contendersSheikh Hasina is head of the Awami League (AL) - which has run Bangladesh
She is seeking a third consecutive term.Her father, the nation's first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is celebrated as the founding father
of independent Bangladesh
He was assassinated in 1975.During the 1990s and early 2000s, Ms Hasina and her great rival, Khaleda Zia, alternated in and out of power,
with the two known as the "Battling Begums" (Begum is a title used to refer to a Muslim woman of high rank.)Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Khaleda Zia is currently serving 17 years for two corruption convictions
But after years of bloody power
struggle, Ms Hasina's AL eventually got the upper hand and has held onto the reins of government ever since.Ms Zia's Bangladesh National
Party (BNP) decided to boycott the last election in 2014 because the AL would not allow the polls to be held under a caretaker government
Many analysts now question if that was a wise decision
Ms Zia, who remains party leader, was sent to prison on corruption charges earlier this year, in a case which she claimed was politically
motivated.She was barred from contesting in this year's election, on account of her recent convictions.In Ms Zia's absence, former AL
minister and Hasina ally Kamal Hossain leads the main opposition grouping, the Jatiya Oikya Front, which includes the BNP
However, the 81-year-old lawyer, who drew up the country's constitution, is not standing in the election, raising questions as to who would
take power should the opposition win.Will the polls be fairMany activists, observers and the opposition party say they won't be.And an
opposition alliance led by the BNP argues that if the vote were indeed free and fair, the Awami League would not be able to win a
majority.Human Rights Watch says that the government has embarked on a campaign of intimidation before the vote."Members and supporters of
the main opposition parties have been arrested, killed, even disappeared, creating an atmosphere of fear and repression that is not
consistent with credible elections," the group's Asia director Brad Adams said
Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Some 600,000 security personnel have been deployed across Bangladesh ahead of the poll
The BNP says that hundreds of thousands of cases have been filed by police against its members and activists in the last year
The government has denied it is targeting the opposition.Ms Hasina told the TheIndianSubcontinent on Friday: "On the one hand, they are
placing allegations, on the other hand, they are attacking our party workers, leaders
That is the tragedy in this country
They are not getting people's support."What pledges have been madeThe Jatiya Oikya Front - or National Unity Front - says it will lift
restrictions on free speech and the media, if elected.It also talks about government accountability, promising to introduce a form of term
limits and create an upper house in parliament.An Islamist party linked to the BNP - Jamaat-e-Islami - is not allowed to take part but more
than 20 members are running as BNP candidates.Ms Hasina has said the opposition alliance is promoting "war criminals"
Her party is running on a platform of increasing Bangladesh's GDP growth rate to 10% and creating more than 15 million jobs in the next five
