Dhaka, Dec 28 — Candidates of the ruling Awami League (AL) are leading in the first phase municipality election held Monday at 24 municipalities across Bangladesh.
The municipalities are – Panchagarh, Pirganj in Thakurgaon, Phulbari in Diinajpur, Badarganj in Rangpur, Kurigram, Puthia and Katakhali in Rajshahi, Shahzadpur in Sirajganj, Chatmohor in Pabna, Khoksha in Kushtia, Chuadanga, Chalna in Khulna, Betagi in Barguna, Kuakata in Patuakhali, Ujirpur and Bakerganj in Barishal, Gafargaon in Mymensingh, Madan in Netrakona, Manikganj, Dhamrai in Dhaka, Dirai in Sunamganj, Borolekha in Moulvibazar, Sayestaganj in Habiganj and Sitakunda in Chattogram.
Voting began at 8 am and continued until 4 pm without any break.
Results from some of the municipalities came in at night, showing AL candidates doing better than their rivals.
In Sitakunda, Freedom Fighter and AL nominee Bodiul Alam was elected to the mayor’s office for a second consecutive time.
He bagged 10,829 votes while his nearest rival from BNP, Freedom Fighter Abul Monsur, got 3,072 votes.
Ballots were cast using electronic voting machines (EVM).
Meanwhile, Anowar Bhuiyan was elected councillor of ward-1, Badiul Alam Jashim ward-2, Shamsul Azad ward-3, Haradhan Chowdhury Babu ward-4, Shafiul Alam Murad ward-5, Didarul Alam ward-6, Fazle Elahi ward-7, Mofizur Rahman ward-8, Julfiqar Ali ward-9.
Apart from them, Shamima Akter has been elected member of wards 1, 2 and 3; while Kamrun Nahar won in wards 4, 5 and 6; and Masuda Akter in wards 7, 8 and 9.
Independent mayoral candidate Jahirul Islam boycotted the polls alleging irregularities and citing untoward incidents.
In Kushtia’s Khoksha, AL’s Tarikul Islam has been elected mayor for a second consecutive time.
According to unofficial results, he has received 9,327 votes and his nearest rival, BNP’s Nafiz Ahmed, got 1,583 votes.
Nafiz raised allegations of irregularities shortly after the announcement of unofficial results.
In Manikganj, AL’s Ramjan Ali has won beating his only rival, BNP’s Ataur Rahman, by 29,251 votes.
Abul Kalam Azad has been elected councillor of ward-1, Nurul Islam ward-2, Taslim Hridoy ward-3, Arshed Ali Biswas ward-4, Abdur Razzak ward-5, Shayekh Shibli ward-6, Md Kabir Hossain ward-7, Abu Md Nahid ward-8, and Ujjal Hossain ward-9.
In the reserved seat for women, Najma Akter won from wards 1, 2 and 3; Rajia Sultana wards 4, 5 and 6; and Jesmin Akter wards 7, 8 and 9.
In Dhamrai, AL candidate Golam Kabir is leading the mayoral race with 23,110 votes. His nearest rival, BNP’s Najim Uddin Monju got only 1,503 votes. The results will be announced on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, in Shayestaganj, BNP leader MF Ahmed Oli won the mayoral race with 4,041 votes. AL’s Masud Uzzaman Masuk got 3,141 votes.
Oli had won the mayoral polls twice in 2004 and 2011.
In Thakurgaon, renegade AL candidate Freedom Fighter Md Ekramul Haq won the mayoral election bagging 9,133 votes. His nearest rival, AL candidate former mayor Kashirul Alam got 2,790 votes while BNP’s Rejaul Karim got 2,714 votes. – UNB
