DHAKA: Awami League-endorsed Sayeed Khokon was elected the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) on Wednesday, beating BNP-backed candidate Mirza Abbas by a margin of 241,005 votes.

According to unofficial results of the Tuesday’s DSCC polls, Sayeed Khokon (Ilish symbol) secured 535,296 votes while Mirza Abbas (mug symbol) bagged 294,291 in all of 889 polling centers except three.

Voting, however, remains postponed at three centers.

DSCC Chief Returning Officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed declared the unofficial results at his make-shift office at Mahanagar Natyamancha at Gulistan in city around 5:30am.

There are a total of 57 wards in DSCC (20 reserved and 97 general) and a total of 1,009,286 voters.

The number of councilor candidates for the reserved wards are 97 and for general wards are 390 while 20 vied for the mayoral post.

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

Executive Magistrates and Judicial Magistrates have also been deployed.

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

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, addressing a post-poll press brief, said that the polls in three city corporations of Dhaka and Chittagong has been held fairly and peacefully except some stray incidents.

However, ruling Awami League’s political rival BNP boycotted the city polls on ground of massive vote rigging and attacking on their polling agents.

BNP standing committee member Maudud Ahmed, on behalf of the party, announced the boycotting at a press brief at its Nayapaltan central office in the middle of the voting around 11:45 on Tuesday.

BDST: 0625 HRS/ 0845, APR 29, 2015
HB/SMS