BNP’s mayor aspirant Sakhawat loses own centres to Ivy

BNP candidate Sakhawat Hossain Khan has lost in both the centres in his own area to Awami League's Selina Hayat Ivy by around 1,000 votes in Narayanganj City Corporation mayoral election.

Sakhawat's 'paddy sheaf' bagged 968 votes in the two polling centres at Adarsha School next to Chasharha Eidgah Ground while Ivy's 'boat' secured 1,930 votes on Thursday.

Returning Officer Md Nuruzzaman Talukder announced the results of the Adarsha School centres at 7:30pm.

The voting at 174 centres in the city was held peacefully from 8am to 4pm.

The BNP challeneger cast his ballot in the morning at Adarsha School where the centres for Ward No. 13 were set up.

Later he said, "The situation is still satisfactory. I haven't heard anything bad until now. I will wait until the results, and accept whatever judgement the people give."

Ivy became the first mayor of Narayanganj after it was made a city corporation in 2011 by defeating another heavyweight Awami League leader, AKM Shamim Osman.

Taimur Alam Khandaker, the BNP-backed candidate in that election, had withdrawn himself from the polls at the eleventh hour.

This year, the BNP picked lawyer Sakhawat, known for representing the sensational seven-murder case plaintiff in court, as its candidate, and the party vowed that it would fight to the finish.

After the results started coming out in the evening, with Ivy in the lead, Sakhawat declined media requests for comment at around 8pm.

"I am not ready yet. I am gathering information and trying to contact the Election Commission. I will speak to you later," he said at the media cell and control room set up by the BNP.