DHAKA: Counting votes began as election in the three-city corporation polls — Dhaka North, Dhaka South, and Chittagong — ended Tuesday amid the boycott of BNP-backed mayoral contenders.

The voting started at 8:00am and continued till 4:00pm without any break.

Returning Officers told banglanews that voting ended peacefully and counting is underway.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC):

A total of 16 candidates are running for the post of mayor, 281 for general councilors in 36 wards and 89 candidates for reserved councilor posts in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).

Mayor candidates for DNCC include Anisul Huq with election symbol ‘Table Clock’, Tabith Awal with ‘Bus’ and Mahi B Chowdhury  with ‘Eagle’ and Junaid Abdur Rahim Saki with ‘Telescope’.

A total of 2,345,374 voters are expected to cast votes in 1,093 polling centers to elect their representatives for next five years.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC):

A number of 1,870,753 voters are expected to cast their votes in 889 polling centers to elect their representatives in Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).

Main mayoral contenders for DSCC are Sayeed Khokan with ‘Hilsha’ symbol and Mirza Abbas with ‘Mug’.

A total of 20 candidates are running for the mayor post while 390 for general councilors in the 57 wards and 97 for reserved councilor posts in DSCC.

Chittagong City Corporation (CCC):

Besides, a total of 12 candidates are running for the post of mayor in Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) while 213 for general councilors in 41 wards and 62 candidates for reserved councilor posts.

M Manzur Alam is vying for the mayor post with the symbol of ‘Orange’ while AJM Nasir Uddin with ‘Elephant’.

Some 1,813,449 voters are expected to cast votes in 719 polling centers in the elections.

Moreover, government has declared holiday in the three city corporation areas.

BNP quits 3 city polls

BNP boycotts Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chittagong City Corporations polls raising allegation of massive vote rigging and attacks on their polling agents.

BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed made the announcement at a press briefing in its Nayapaltan central office in city on Tuesday.

Afroza Abbas, wife of BNP-backed mayoral candidate Mirza Abbas for Dhaka South City Corporation and Tabith Awal, BNP-backed mayoral candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation were also present there.

On the other hand, BNP-backed mayoral candidate for Chittagong M Manjur Alam boycotted the election raising allegation of vote rigging.

However, the Election Commission (EC) took adequate preparation for a free, fair and impartial voting in the polls.

EC sources said mobile teams of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Armed Police Battalion (APBn), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Coast Guard and Ansar are patrolling the poll areas on the day.

Some 268 teams of RAB, 100 platoons of BGB, 268 joint team of police, coast guard and Ansar, and seven platoons of Coast Guard have been posted for three city corporations.
 
Besides, some 66 teams comprising police, APBn and Ansar are on duty as striking force in the poll areas.

Executive Magistrates and Judicial Magistrates have also been deployed.

A number of 50,000 election officials, including presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and polling officers, were trained for the elections in the three cities.

A number of local and foreign observers along with a large number of journalists are observing the election process. 

BDST: 1609 HRS, APR 28, 2015
RS/RR/SMS