BNP-backed candidate MA Mannan won Gazipur mayoral polls defeating AL favourite Ajmat Ullah.
Mannan defeated Ajmat by 1,06,577 votes according to unofficial results.
Mannan bagged 3,65,444 votes while his rival ruling Awami League supported candidate Ajmat Ullah Khan got 2,58,867 cast in 392 polling centres, said Returning Officer Matiar Rahman while declaring the unofficial results.
The total number of cast votes was 6,54,094 which is 63.69 percent, the returning officer said.
Rejected votes were 18,046, he added.
Beginning at 8:00am, the voting continued for eight hours without any break with thousands of people exercising their franchise amid a festive fervour.
A female voter shows her thumb after casting her vote at a centre at West Joydevpur Government Primary School in Gazipur on Saturday. Beginning at 8:00am, the voting continued for eight hours without any break with thousands of people exercising their franchise amid a festive fervour. Photo: Rashed Shumon
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of people came out of their homes to elect the city mayor and councillors in what became a crucial battle of pride for the ruling party and the opposition bloc.
Many of the 10.26 lakh eligible voters queued up before the polling stations long before 8:00am when the voting began.
An hour after beginning of voting, Ajmat Ullah Khan termed the voting peaceful while his contender MA Mannan accused Khan and election officials of rigging the polls.
The voters said that they had to stand in queues for long as the voting progressed in a slow pace.
Visiting Baipail Primary School centre, our correspondent found people standing in 13 long queues.
Farzana, a voter of Abdul Malek Munshi Academy centre, said she remained waiting in the queue for one hour.
Asked about this, Mohsin Miah, presiding officer of the centre, said: “Women are slow in casting votes. That’s why they have to wait long in the queues.”
The queues of women were longer than those of the men, our correspondent reported.
Election Commission officials count ballots at Joydevpur Girls High School centre in Gazipur on Saturday. People there cast votes till afternoon to elect a mayor for their city. Photo: Focus Bangla
Presiding officers of Star Academy School and Abdul Malek Munshi Academy — two centres of Hanif Memorial School — and two centres of Margun Government Primary School — said 200 votes were cast on average in the centres during the first one hour of voting. BNP and AL polling agents told our correspondents in the morning that the voting was going on in a free, fair and neutral manner.
There was no administrative pressure or intimidation, at least 20 agents from both the political camps told The Daily Star.
No major violence or disruption in voting was reported from anywhere in the city.
Only a chase and counter-chase took place between the supporters of AL and BNP in front of Gazipur Govt Women’s College centre.
None however was hurt during the incident.
The chaotic situation ensued around 10:30am when the stalwarts from both the camps blamed each others for continuing campaign during the voting hours violating the electoral rules.
On-duty law enforcers rushed to the spot and took the situation under control immediately.
A woman casts her ballot at a polling center in Gazipur as the city goes to maiden city corporation elections on Saturday. Photo: Firoz Ahmed
AJMAT, MANNAN CAST VOTES
Ajmat Ullah Khan cast his vote around 9:00am at Little Flower School centre in Gazipur.
He expressed satisfaction over the voting atmosphere and termed it peaceful.
After casting vote at Salna Islamia Fazil Degree Madrasa centre at the same time, MA Mannan expressed confidence that he would win if the election was held in a free and fair manner.
Women voters wait to cast their votes at a polling centre in Gazipur Saturday during the maiden election of Gazipur City Corporation. Photo: Star
LAW AND ORDER
More than 11,000 law enforcers including members of Border Guard Bangladesh and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) were deployed to ensure safe and peaceful conduct of voting in the first election to the Gazipur City Corporation.
The Election Commission appointed its 19 officers from different parts of the country as poll observers, an EC high official said.
Besides, 50 executive magistrates and 10 judicial magistrates also worked in the corporation areas with striking force and powers to hold summary trials.
BACKGROUND
Beside a city mayor, the people voted to elect 76 councillors to run their city for the next five years.
A number of 392 polling stations were set up.
Except Ajmat and Mannan, five other candidates also vied for the post but they were not seen as frontrunners.
For the ruling AL, the battle, which came hot on the heels of its humiliating defeat to BNP in the four city polls on June 15, is a chance of turning around.
Party leaders were hopeful about a win because Gazipur is considered as an AL stronghold. Its candidates have always done well there in all parliamentary polls since 1991.
In the 2008 national elections, the AL took all the five seats in the district, defeating the opposition candidates with big margins.
The BNP won two seats in 1991 and one in 2001 there.
However, to win the Gazipur election, the opposition highlighted national issues like stockmarket debacle, Hall-Mark scam, railway-gate scandal and the alleged graft in Padma bridge project. It did the same in the four city election campaigns.
The BNP candidate and his supporters portrayed these issues as government failures, in efforts to woo voters.
Religion, too, has been used in the Gazipur campaign, but with a difference.
In the four city polls, the religion card was used only against the AL-backed mayoral candidate with BNP and Hefajat-e Islam using people’s religious sentiments to buy votes.
In Gazipur, Hefajat men got divided; its men working for both the AL and BNP-backed mayoral aspirants.
Another important factor to look into in the election is the garment workers living in the city.
Of some 10.26 lakh voters in the city, around 3.5 lakh are garment workers, who were considered to be the deciding factor in the battle.
To sway them, both the candidates promised to do a lot more for them.
Source: The Daily Star