DHAKA: Voting in 91 upazilas of 43 districts is underway from Sunday morning in the fourth phase of fourth upazila polls of the country under tight security.

Election Commission (EC) sources said that some 1277 candidates are taking part in the upazila polls. The voting started from 8:00am and will continue till 4:00pm at a stretch.

There are around 5,884 polling centers having a Presiding Officer for each where some 1,38,59,278 voters are likely to cast their votes in 91 upazilas.

The Election Commission (EC) has taken all necessary preparations for holding the fourth-phase upazila parishad polls peacefully.

The Army personnel along with RAB, BGB, Police and Ansar are available from now on in the electoral areas for next five days to avert any untoward situation and polls violence.

All kinds of campaign were halted from Friday midnight.

The intelligence agencies feared to face a violence centering the election so a tight security will be measured in the polling areas.

The commission also declared a public holiday for the day in the polling areas. EC hopes to have a huge turnout of the voters to exercise their franchise in a free and fair manner.

EC sources said the commission will strictly take actions against the anarchists and penalize them to maintain the election peacefully.

BDST: 1026 HRS, MAR 23, 2014