Kurigram, Nov. 7 -- In remote char areas of Kurigram, hope has long ebbed away with the shifting currents of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.

As the national elections draw near, residents of these flood-prone lands say they see little reason to vote as their faith in politics washed away by years of unmet promises and unchanging hardship.

For the people of these transient islands, politics has become an empty word. Votes come, but no change comes in our lives, said several villagers, echoing a sentiment shared across Kurigram's char communities.

Home to some of Bangladesh's most impoverished citizens, Kurigram remains at the bottom of the country's development index.

Government data show that 70.8 percent of its population lives ...