Bangladesh elections: BNP leader dies at polling station after allegedly being pushed; hit head on tree

BNP Metropolitan leader Mohibuzzaman Kochi died on Thursday morning while going to a polling station in Bangladesh’s Khulna after allegedly being pushed by rival Jamaat supporters.

Kochi, 60, was the former office secretary of Khulna Metropolitan BNP.

The incident occurred around 9 am at the Khulna Alia Madrasa polling station. According to BNP, Kochi had gone to vote when he opposed campaigning inside the center. Members of the rival Jamaat allegedly pushed him, causing him to fall and hit his head. He was later taken to a hospital, where the doctor on duty declared him dead.

Metropolitan BNP media cell convener Mizanur Rahman said that Kochi had gone to the Khulna Alia Madrasa center to vote in the morning. Tension was high at the center as Alia Madrasa’s principal, Abdur Rahim, was campaigning for Jamaat. When Kochi tried to stop him, Rahim and his associates allegedly pushed him, causing Kochi to hit his head on a tree. He was later taken to a private medical college hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Jamaat’s center director Mahbubur Rahman offered a different version, saying, “BNP people were expelling our female workers. I stopped them. Then one of them fell ill. Later I heard that he died. No one was pushed or beaten.”

Nazrul Islam, the BNP nominee for Khulna-2 constituency, expressed the party’s demand for action: “There is a shadow of sadness in Khulna BNP. Former Khulna BNP office secretary Mohibuzzaman Kochi was killed in an attack by a Jamaat leader at the Alia Madrasa center this morning. We demand the immediate arrest of the Jamaat leader, the madrasa principal and his associates and legal action against those who gave the orders.”

The elections come almost two years after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following the 2024 July Uprising. Alongside the parliamentary contest, voters are also participating in a national referendum on the July National Charter, which proposes major constitutional and institutional changes.

Following the 20-day official campaign period that ended on February 10, authorities have now shifted focus to polling-day logistics and security.