Dhaka, Feb 01 – The Awami League mayoral candidates extended their lead in both Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) in the counting of votes in the elections to the two city cities on Saturday. According to unofficial results, AL mayoral runner Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh bagged 375,851 votes while BNP’s Ishraque Hossain polled 204,041 in 1009 centres out of total 1,150 in DSCC.
In DNCC, ruling party contestant Atiqul Islam got 235,234 votes while his nearest rival Tabith Awal of BNP polled 146,355 in 739 centres out of total 1,318.
Earlier, balloting in the DNCC and DSCC elections ended on 4 pm amid ‘low voter turnout’ and reports of sporadic violence and allegations of BNP agents being driven out of polling stations.
The full-fledged use of Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs for recording votes instead of traditional ballot papers evoked mixed reactions from both voters and politicians.
The voting began at 8 am and continued till 4 pm without any break. The two city corporations had more than 5.45 million voters.
Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina cast her vote at Dhaka City College centre on Saturday morning.
Awami League candidate Atiqul Islam and BNP’s Tabith Awal are in the race for the mayor’s office in DNCC. In DSCC, the mayoral race is being led by AL’s Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and BNP’s Ishraque Hossain.
Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda said he was happy with the overall atmosphere during the Dhaka city elections.
About BNP’s allegation that its agents were being driven out of polling centres, he said: “Polling agents driven out of voting centres should go to presiding officers, magistrates and law enforcers and enter polling stations with their help.” – UNB
