Awami League-backed Sayeed Khokon emulates father, wins Dhaka South City mayor election

The Awami League’s pick Sayeed Khokon has emulated his father, Dhaka’s first elected mayor, by winning a landslide victory in the Dhaka South city mayoral election.

Tuesday’s balloting was marred by widespread allegations of massive rigging, sporadic clashes and boycott by the BNP-backed candidates.

According to the Election Commission, Khokon, who ran with ‘hilsa’ symbol, got 535,296 votes in 886 polling centres.

Khokon is the organising secretary of Awami League’s Dhaka metropolitan unit.

His nearest rival, BNP-backed Mirza Abbas, with the ‘mug’ symbol, managed 294,291 votes.

He was defeated in the civic polls by Khokon’s father late Dhaka mayor Mohammad Hanif two decades ago,

Abbas pulled out of the race alleging large-scale rigging by ruling party supporters and other irregularities.

The chief election commissioner, however, said voting was peaceful leaving aside some ‘isolated incidents’ and urged all to accept ‘whatever the results’.

In his first post-polls press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad claimed the elections were marked by ‘massive voter presence’.

The CEC said he and other election commissioners had received no complaints of irregularities, interference and obstruction to voters during their visits to centres in Dhaka North and South and Chittagong city corporations.

Returning Officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed announced the results at his office set up at Gulistan’s Mahanagar Natyamancha in the early hours of Wednesday.

Voting took place in the Dhaka South City Corporation, which has about 1.9 million voters, from 8am until 4pm along with Dhaka North and Chittagong city corporations on Tuesday.

The Election Commission suspended voting at Bongshal’s Suritola Primary School, Jurain Ashraf Master Ideal School and in a centre at Khilgaon due to irregularities.

There are reports of irregularities in several other centres.

Awami League groups clashed at three centres in Lakshmibazar, Kafrul and Hazaribagh. But the polls continued.

bdnews24.com Correspondent Sajidul Haque found Narinda Govt Primary School voting centre’s Presiding Officer Obaidul Islam stamping ballots for Khokon.

He reported from the spot that law-enforcers were sending back voters, who had come to cast ballots at the centre under Ward 42 of Dhaka South City Corporation.

The US and the UK called for impartial investigations into allegations of vote rigging, and have asked the political parties to keep their post-poll reactions within the law.

Envoys of both countries in Dhaka, in separate statements, expressed their disappointment that the BNP felt it necessary to withdraw its endorsed candidates from the City Corporation elections midway through Tuesday’s voting.

Apart from Khokon and Abbas, 18 others contested for the office of the mayor of Dhaka South in its first election after the Dhaka City Corporation’s bifurcation in November 2011.

Abdur Rahman (flask) bagged 14,784 votes, Jatiya Party’s Saifuddin Milon (sofa) 4,519 votes, Abu Naser Md Masud Hossain (spinning wheel) 2,197 votes, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury (table clock) 2,173 votes, Shahin Khan (ship) 2,074 votes, Golam Maula Rony (ring) 1,887 votes, Shahidul Islam (bus) 1,239 votes and BaSaD’s Bazlur Rashid Firoz (table) 1,029 votes.

Jahidur Rahman (laptop) got 988 votes, BNP leader Asaduzzaman Ripon (orange) 928 votes, ASM Akram (cricket bat) 682 votes, Dilip Bhadra (elephant) 669 votes, Abdul Khalek (cake) 550 votes, Shafiullah Chowdhury (peacock) 512 votes, Mashiur Rahman (cheetah) 508 votes, Md Aktaruzzaman (gourd) 362 votes, Ayub Hossain (eagle) 354 votes and Sultan Bahar (shirt) 313 votes.

In Dhaka South, 390 are contesting for general councillor posts in 57 wards, while 97 are vying for 19 wards reserved for women.

A total of 48.57 percent of more than 1.9 million voters in Dhaka South cast their votes. Of the 905,484 cast votes, 40,130 were cancelled.