234 municipalities go to polls today [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

234 municipalities go to polls today

Local December 30, 2015

First ever partisan elections to 234 municipal councils in the country are set to be held today with the opposition fearing violence, intimidation and ballot rigging.
According to the Election Commission, 945 people are contesting for 234 mayoral positions, 8,746 for 2,193 councillor positions and 2,480 are contesting for 731 councillor positions reserved for women, while 72,7260 people – 35,52,284 male and 35,46,860 female – have enrolled to cast their vote.
Of the mayoral candidates, 234 are from the ruling Awami League, 223 from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, 74 from the Jatiya Party, 57 from the Islami Andolan Bangladesh and 72 are from 16 other parties, while 285 are contesting the polls as independent candidates.
The independent candidates include 30 rebel AL and 15 rebel BNP candidates, sources in the parties said.
Councillor candidates, however, were not nominated officially by the parties, although candidates backed by AL and BNP were contesting councillor positions for almost all of the wards.
In seven municipalities – Pirojpur, Tungipara, Chatkhil, Madarganj, Feni, Parshuram and Chengar Char – AL mayoral candidates were declared elected unopposed.
Opposition parties, their candidates, independent candidates and many voters feared that ruling Awami League activists might go for capturing of polling stations, stuffing ballot boxes and violence as they did in the recent elections to three city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong and in the general elections held on January 4, 2014.
The chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, however, said that the commission would accept no irregularities and partisan attitude from the officials involved in the polls.
The commission asked the law enforcement agencies to carry out their duties with highest professionalism, he told reporters at a press conference at the commission on Tuesday.
He also urged the voters to cast their vote without being influenced by any quarters as the commission ‘ensured security for the voters at the polling centres.’
The commission has set up 3,555 poling centres and the polling will start at 8:00am and will continue till 4:00pm. The returning officers will announce the number of polled votes in every two hours, commission officials said.
They said that the commission already sent all the polling materials including ballot boxes and ballot papers, stamp to all polling stations.
The commission deployed 279 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh forces in 229 municipal areas for four days from Monday while 233 mobile teams of Rapid Action Battalion and 233 other teams comprising members of the police, the Armed Police Battalion and Ansar were fielded to control law and order.
Delegations of AL and BNP separately met chief election commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed on Tuesday and demanded ensuring a free and fair election.
Emerging the meeting BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan told reporters that they urged the commission to take necessary steps for holding the polls in a transparent manner.
For the third time in a week, BNP met the chief election commission just a day before the elections.
He said that about 5,500 BNP leaders and activists were detained in false cases in the past six weeks.
‘Three BNP men have been killed and over 300 injured in the pre-poll violence,’ Moyeen claimed.
Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said the commission was being sympathetic to BNP and unkind to AL, and BNP was taking the benefits of the sympathy.
‘So, we have requested the CEC to be impartial in holding the polls,’ Hanif said.
Incidents of violence and violation of electoral code of conduct were reported from several municipalities on Tuesday.
In Bogra, police arrested Dhunat upazila Chhatra Dal president Md Ali John on Monday night when he was campaigning for BNP mayoral candidate for Dhunat municipality.
Dhunat police officer-in-charge Panchananda Sarkar said that police arrested Md Ali as court issued a warrant for the arrest.
In Patuakhali, five people were injured in a clash between Awami League and BNP activists at Melapara of Kuakakata municipality on Tuesday.
In Jessore, a polling agent of BNP-backed councillor candidate Mohiuddin was injured in an attack allegedly by
his opponent AL-backed candidate Siddiqur Rahman at a kitchen market adjacent to Shahadat Pilot School polling station on Tuesday.
The injured Al-Amin, president, ward-4 unit BNP, was rushed to Chaugachha upazila health complex.
Chaugachha police station officer in-charge Ilias Hossain, however, said that no complaint was lodged in this connection.
In Rajshahi, an election camp of BNP-backed councillor candidate for Bhawaniganj municipality Zillur Rahman was vandalised allegedly by AL activists on Monday night.
Zillur blamed AL-backed candidate Abdul Malek Mandal’s activists for the incident. Malek denied the allegation.
In Lakshmipur, BNP mayoral candidate for Raipur municipality ABM Zilani’s chief election coordinator and upazila BNP president Moniriul Islam’s house was attacked allegedly by AL activists on Monday night.
Latter, on Tuesday the AL activists attacked a clinic owned by Zilani, and a group of activists took position in front of Zilani’s house.
Witnesses said that the activists blasted at least 20 crude bombs in the municipal area.
Raipur police officer-in-charge Lokman Hossain said that additional police were deployed in the area.
In Barisal, an election camp of rebel AL councillor candidate for Mehendiganj municipality Hasibur Rahman was vandalised allegedly by AL activists at Anbikapur.