The elections were held in an overall orderly and festive atmosphere, said Kazi Habibul Awal, the chief election commissioner
After a day-long vote in Khulna and Barisal amid a peaceful atmosphere on Monday, the two ruling Awami League-nominated mayoral candidates became victorious, defeating their closest contestants from Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) by a margin of over 90,000 and 50,000 votes, respectively.
Victory in the Khulna polls was anticipated by many due to the popularity of veteran politician Talukder Abdul Khaleque, who became the mayor of the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) for the third time.
All eyes were on Barisal where the ruling party was worried about rivalry among its leaders since the immediate-past mayor, Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, did not get the nomination. The party chose his uncle, Abul Khair Abdullah alias Khokon Serniabat.
Khaleque (boat) secured 154,825 votes (60.4%) and his nearest competitor, Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s Abdul Awal (hand fan), received 60,064 (23.4%) votes in the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) elections. Returning Officer Md Alauddin announced the unofficial results at the Khulna District Art Academy hall.
Dhaka Tribune
On the other hand, Returning Officer Humayun Kabir announced the unofficial result of the Barisal City Corporation (BCC) election last night.
Abul Khair Abdullah received 87,808 votes (61.9%) while his nearest contender IAB Nayeb-e-Ameer Mufti Syed Mohammad Faizul Karim received 33,828 votes (23.9%).
Among others, Jatiya Party and Zaker Party offered candidates for the mayoral race. But they got less than 10% of the votes.
The BNP did not give any mayoral candidate and permanently expelled 19 leaders, including a mayoral aspirant, in Barisal and nine in Khulna for joining the race. Similar steps have been taken in the cases of Gazipur, Sylhet and Rajshahi.
Some 1,200 CCTV cameras were installed to ensure the security of the 894 polling booths in 126 voting centres in Barisal and 2,320 in Khulna.
The election took place from 8am to 4pm in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and there were several complaints of delay in the process.
The Election Commission did not receive any allegations of vote rigging or influencing voters, apart from a few issues raised by IAB’s mayor candidate in Barisal.
Mufti Syed Mohammad Faizul Karim, the party’s nayeb-e-ameer, claimed that he came under attack by Awami League activists at a polling centre for protesting unlawful acts. Later, IAB supporters took out processions in Barisal city with sticks and protested in front of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka blocking the main road.
Afzalul Karim, chief election coordinator of Awami League’s mayoral candidate in Barisal, expressed regret over the attack and denied the involvement of Awami League in the incident.
The elections were held in an overall orderly and festive atmosphere, said Kazi Habibul Awal, the chief election commissioner.
“The EC has taken adequate preparations to ensure that no post-poll violence takes place in Barisal and Khulna. Apart from this, instructions have been given to take immediate action against the troublemakers in Barisal,” he told reporters after the voting ended.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Md Ahsan Habib Khan referred to the attack as an “unexpected and isolated” event. “This was an unexpected and isolated event. We have learned that an attack occurred on a candidate in Barisal. Those involved in this incident have been instructed to be arrested and penalized after an investigation,” he said.
In Khulna, a returning officer asked a TV journalist to stop when the later was livestreaming from outside a polling booth, the Jatiya Party’s mayoral candidate alleged that ruling party men were barring voters from entering centres while IAB’s Abdul Awal said he had experienced glitches in the EVM.
Also, a mobile court fined a person Tk500 and took bond from three others for violating the electoral code of conduct. One Akram Hossain was fined while Tawhidul Islam, Abdus Samad and Mirajul Islam were released on bond that they would never violate the rules in the future. The court released them after fining and taking bond, he added.
The mobile court, led by Executive Magistrate Md Asaduzzaman, said the punished were voters in ward No 17 but they were gathering in front of a polling station under ward 18.
Moniruzzaman Talukdar, joint secretary of the Election Commission, stated that the KCC polls were completed fairly and smoothly in all the centres he visited.
Moniruzzaman said: “Around one-third of the votes were cast within a span of three to four hours. Based on this, we can assume that the voting process was conducted fairly and smoothly. No untoward issues have been reported.”
The joint secretary also mentioned that although the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were a bit slow in several places, it did not cause any significant delays.
He further added: “There have been no reports of violence during this election. All law enforcement personnel are on high alert. The security of the polling stations is being ensured by the Police-Ansar. Additionally, we have deployed executive magistrates and judicial magistrates besides members of RAB, BGB.”
