AL loyalists leading in 3rd phase

The ruling Awami League has taken the initial lead in early count of the third phase of the Upazila Parishad polls after trailing the BNP in the staggered balloting.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 15 March 2014, 06:43 PM
Updated : 15 March 2014, 08:41 PM

According to unofficial results from 79 Upazilas, candidates loyal to the Awami League won the chairman post in 39 Upazilas while the BNP-endorsed aspirants had the last laugh in 28.

The BNP's ally Jamaat-e-Islami's candidates won in five Upazilas and the other went to an LDP loyalist.

Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) chairman candidates also won at two Upazilas in Rangamati.

Although the local government polls are largely non-political, the active participation of the political parties has added a strong political undertone.

The BNP, which boycotted the Jan 5 national elections, decided to join the Upazila polls and was ahead in the first two phases with most number of chairmen.

Saturday's voting at 81 Upazilas in 41 districts was marred by violence. Two persons died in poll-related violence in Bagerhat and Shariatpur.

The BNP has cried foul like the previous two phases while the Awami League said its activists were under attack from their opponents.

In the first two phases, BNP-backed candidates won chairman posts in 98 Upazilas while the number is 82 for the Awami League.

Apart from these, 20 Jamaat-endorsed aspirants, two from the Jatiya party, four from CHT-based PCJSS and three from the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) also won in the first two legs.