Mashrafe Mortaza had officially entered politics in November. (AP)Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza registered a landslide victory in the 11th general elections, winning over 96% of the votes in his constituency. Mortaza is also the first active cricketer to bag this position in his country. Mashrafe had officially entered politics in November when he received confirmation of his nomination from Awami League.
Contesting in the 11th general elections, Mortaza secured the Narail-2 constituency with 274, 418 votes. His rival Fariduzzaman Farhad (Jatiya Oikya Front ) received 8,006 votes. Mortaza has already retired from T20 International cricket and has not played a Test match since 2009. He is expected to retire from ODIs after the 2019 World Cup.
The polling began early morning on Sunday morning and continued till 4 PM in the evening. During the voting period, Mortaza had spoken to prothomalo.com and said, “I have visited almost 30 centres in my constituency and found the atmosphere to be peaceful. There is no sign of violence.”
However, several parts of the country were engulfed in violence and police arrested as many as eight people in connection with violent clashes. An official announcement is yet to be made. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led Bangladesh Awami League is likely to make the government in the country for the third consecutive term.
