A total of six candidates are contesting in Dhaka 18 constituency
 
People have already started voting for the by-elections to Dhaka-18.

The voting was supposed to start from 9am and continue till 5pm on Thursday.

The by-elections of another parliamentary constituency, Sirajganj 1, will also be held on Thursday.

Earlier, the Election Commission (EC) completed all the preparations for holding the polls in a fair and peaceful environment.

Eight candidates from six political parties including Awami League and BNP are contesting in these two seats.

Candidates from the three main political parties – Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party are taking part in the by-polls in Dhaka 18 constituency, while only Awami League and BNP candidates are contesting in Sirajganj 1 constituency.

The Ministry of Public Administration has decided to close only election-related institutions on the day of polling in these two constituencies. All other offices will remain open.

Some public transports have been banned from Wednesday midnight to Thursday midnight and motorcycles have been banned from midnight on Tuesday to midnight on Friday.

Subject to the permission of the Election Commission, some vehicles will be allowed to move.

In order to maintain law and order, additional magistrates and law enforcement personnel have been serving in the two constituencies.

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Dhaka 18 constituency fell vacant following the death of Awami League lawmaker Advocate Sahara Khatun while Sirajganj 1 constituency fell vacant following the death of ruling party MP Mohammad Nasim.

Candidates and voting centers

According to EC sources, the Dhaka 18 constituency consists of wards 1, 17, and 43 to 54 of Dhaka North City and the airport area.

The total number of polling stations is 217 and the number of polling booths is 1,353. The total number of voters is 577,188. Among them, 296,135 voters are male and 281,053 are female.

A total of six candidates are contesting in Dhaka 18 constituency.

Candidates contesting in Dhaka 18 are – Awami League (AL) backed Mohammad Habib Hasan, BNP nominated SM Jahangir Hossain, Jatiya Party nominated Mohammad Nasir Uddin Sarkar, Mohammad Omar Faruque of Bangladesh Congress, Kazi Mohammad Shahidullah of Gonofront and Mohammad Mahibbullah Bahar of PDP.

Sirajganj 1 constituency consists of Kazipur, part of Sadar and of one municipality.

Candidates contesting in Sirajganj 1 are- Awami League backed Tanvir Shakil Joy and BNP nominated Selim Reza.

The total number of voters in this constituency is 345,603. Of these, 171,641 are male voters and 173,962 are female voters.

There are 168 voting centers in this constituency.