Tabith Awal pledges to eradicate graft, mosquito menace if elected

He blames negligence by the two former mayors of the capital, his rival Atiqul Islam and Mohammad Sayeed Khokon of the South, for last year’s outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever.

“I will play a major role in tackling dengue if I get elected. It’s not that we had not known about this, but they [the two former mayors] neglected it. They did not even buy proper mosquito repellent,” he said.

The businessman-cum-politician spoke to bdnews24.com in an interview before the formal launch of his campaign on Friday.

Awal said he formed an organisation of youths that identified 12 key problems in the city, such as waste management, house rent, pollution of air, water and sound, traffic congestion, pavement encroachment, an mosquito.

He and his family members had been named in the Panama Papers, leaked documents that showed how the wealthy families secretly invested in offshore tax havens.

He did not respond to a query on the issue citing the “electoral code of conduct”.

Awal had announced a boycott of the elections in 2015 halfway through voting. The BNP had alleged widespread irregularities in the polls.

This time, he alleges the Election Commission is using electronic voting machines to drive away the rivals of the ruling Awami League.

“But I believe we will win if the elections remain free and fair until the end. Why would I boycott the polls while our victory is certain?”