The voting in the elections to Rajshahi, Barishal and Sylhet city corporations ended on Monday afternoon amid allegations of vote rigging, scattered disturbances and boycotts.
The balloting started at 8 am in the morning at all voting centres of the three cities. The voting continued till 4 pm without any break.
According to bdnews24.com, the counting began after the polls closed.
Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed claimed the voting was conducted fairly, despite scattered incidents.
Irregularities and disturbances at a polling centre in Barishal and two in Sylhet had caused voting to be halted there, he said.
Additional details would be released once complete information about the situation arrives from the cities.
“There is no reason to be either satisfied or dissatisfied with the election environment,” the EC secretary said in response to a question.
“There were no incidents as egregious as the talk going around. Some scattered incidents occurred among the councillors in Barishal. There were some small problems in Sylhet. The Rajshahi election went well,” he said.
BSS report says, Awami League mayoral candidate in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) AHM Khairuzzaman Litan expressed a strong confidence that he would clinch a landslide victory against his rivals.
“I am almost 100 per cent sure, I will win the election. I have seen such enthusiasm among voters as they want change,” Liton said while talking to reporters after casting his vote at Satellite Town High School polling centre.
In RCC, four candidates are contesting for the mayoral post. They are: ruling Awami League-nominated AHM Khairuzzaman Liton (Boat), BNP-nominated Mohammad Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul (Sheaf of Paddy), Islami Andolan Bangladesh candidate Md Shafiqul Islam (Hand Fan) and independent candidate Md Murad Morshed (Elephant).
Election Commission sources said a total of 3,18,138 voters are in Rajshahi City Corporation. Among them, 1,56,085 are male and 1,62,053 are female.
In Sylhet City Corporation (SCC), AL-backed mayoral candidate Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran also expressed the hope that the people of SCC will elect the ‘Boat’ (symbol of Kamran).
He also said that he has a mentality to accept any result – win or defeat.
In SCC, seven candidates are contesting for the mayoral post. The candidates are: AL-nominated Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran (Boat), BNP-candidate Ariful Haque Chowdhury (Sheaf of Paddy), Islami Andolan Bangladesh-backed Dr Md Moazzem Hossain Khan (Hand Fan), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal candidate Md Abu Jafar (Ladder) and independent candidates Ahasan Mahbub Jobayer (Table Watch), Md Ahasanul Haque Taher (Deer) and Md Badruzzaman Selim (Bus).
In SCC, there are 3,21,732 voters. Of them, 1,7144 are male and 1,50288 are female.
In Barisal City Corporation (BCC), six candidates are competing polls for the mayoral post.
They are: AL candidate Serniyabat Sadek Abdullha (Boat), BNP-nominated Md Majibur Rahman Sarwar (Sheaf of Paddy), Islami Andolan candidate Obaidur Rahman (Hand Fan), Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) candidate Abul Kalam Azad ((Sickle), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal candidate Manisha Chakrabarty (Ladder) and Jatiya Party candidate Md Iqbal Hossain (Plough).
There are 2,42,666 voters in Barisal City Corporation. Of them, 1,21,436 are male and 1,20,739 female.
A total of 530 councillor candidates are contesting in the three city polls.
