Voters in the capital are exercising their franchise to elect mayors and councilors to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
Balloting began at 8:00am and will continue till 4:00pm without any break. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being used in all the polling stations.
Prime minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina cast her vote at Dhaka City College centre on Saturday morning.
Awami League’s DNCC mayoral candidate Atiqul Islam cast his vote at Nawab Habibullah Model School and College in Uttara Model Town area while BNP’s Tabith Awal cast his at Manarat International School in Gulshan-2.
Thirteen contestants are vying for mayoral posts of the two city corporations.
In Dhaka South, AL’s Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh cast his vote at Dhanmondi Government High School centre while his rival BNP’s Ishraque Hossain cast his at Shaheed Shahjahan Government Primary School.
More than 5.45 million voters can cast votes at 2,468 polling stations across the city.
In the DNCC, 334 candidates are contesting against 73 posts. Six aspirants are running for the mayoral post but AL’s Atiqul Islam and BNP’s Tabith Awal are the leading contestants, UNB reported.
Besides, 251 councillor candidates are running for 54 posts and 77 women for 18 reserved seats.
In the DSCC, 416 candidates are contesting against 101 posts. Seven candidates are vying for the mayor’s office but locals say it will mainly be a contest between the ruling party’s Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and BNP’s Ishraque Hossain.
Besides, 327 councillor candidates are running for 75 posts and 82 women for 25 reserved seats in the DSCC polls.
The Election Commission announced schedules of the Dhaka city election on December 22 last year. EC rescheduled the polling date on January 18.
The last elections to both DNCC and DSCC were held on April 28, 2015.
