Cumilla-4 lawmaker and National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Organiser for the southern region Hasnat Abdullah today alleged that vote rigging was common before the July Uprising and has continued even after it.

Referring to the 2014 and 2018 national elections as “midnight elections”, he said votes had been rigged even before the official results were announced at the time.

“However, a new mechanism was observed this time. Electoral fraud took place once again, but after the results were announced. Although 70 percent of the population backed the ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum, BNP snatched that mandate,” he said.

The NCP MP made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the party's "July March" programme in Noakhali town this afternoon.

The Noakhali district unit of NCP organised the programme, demanding implementation of the referendum mandate, resolution of electricity crisis, control of commodity prices, increased employment and stronger border security.

Addressing BNP, Hasnat said it would not be possible to govern the country or carry out reforms while going against the younger generation.

“If you think you can run the country alone, you are wrong. If you think you can push through reforms against the people’s will, you are making a mistake,” he said.

Referring to employment, Hasnat said there had been a promise to create one crore jobs, but no new jobs had been created even after four months. "There's no sign of any new recruitment notice either," he said.

Noakhali-6 lawmaker and NCP leader Abdul Hannan Masud, and the party's central Joint Convener Ali Ahsan Junaid, among others, were present at the programme.