Narayanganj City Corporation election at a glance

The third Narayanganj City Corporation elections will be held on Sunday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. The Awami League and candidates from four other parties and two independents are contesting the mayoral race.

Moinul Hoque Chowdhury Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Jan 2022, 07:03 PM
Updated : 15 Jan 2022, 07:03 PM

Salina Hayat Ivy, who won two consecutive mayoral races in the previous two polls, is running again. Taimur Alam Khandaker, a BNP leader who went against the party’s decision to boycott the polls is running as an independent candidate. The contest between the two has stirred interest in several quarters, but it has lacked the intensity of previous elections.

The polls are also the last for the much-criticised KM Nurul Huda-led Election Commission, which hopes to see out its term with a free and fair election.

THE NARAYANGANJ CITY CORPORATION ELECTION 2022

>> The polls will open at 8 am on Sunday and end at 4 pm, with ballots being cast on Electronic Voting Machines, or EVMs

>> The constituency has a total of 517,361 registered voters – 259,846 men, 257,511 women and four third gender

>> The election will decide the post of mayor, nine reserved women councillors and 27 ward councillors

>> Voters will cast their votes at 1,333 ballot boxes in 192 polling centres

>> The election results will be announced from the returning officer’s control room at the Narayanganj Club after the count is finished

On May 5, 2011, the government issued a gazette combining the Narayanganj Municipality, the Kadam Rasul Municipality and the Siddhirganj Municipality into the Narayanganj City Corporation.

The first city corporation election was held in 2011, with 9 EVMs and the remaining votes cast on ballot paper.

In the second election in 2016, EVMs were used citywide, but votes were also cast on ballot paper.

The first election did not involve political parties, but parties began fielding candidates for the mayor’s seat from the second election.

The KM Nurul Huda-led Election Commission announced the schedule for the polls on Nov 30.

Dec 15 was the deadline for the submission of nomination papers to the returning officer. The applications were scrutinised starting Dec 20 and the last date for a candidate to withdraw was Dec 27. On Dec 28, the candidates were assigned their election symbols and allowed to start their campaign.

THE MAYORAL RACE

Seven candidates are running for mayor in Sunday’s election.

Candidate

Party

Symbol

  Salina Hayat Ivy

Bangladesh Awami League

Boat

Taimur Alam Khandaker

Independent (BNP)

Elephant

ABM Sirajul Mamun

Khilafat Majlish

Wall clock

Md Masum Billah

Islami Andolan Bangladesh

Hand fan

Md Kamrul Islam

Independent

Horse

Md Jashim Uddin

Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan

Banyan tree

Md Rashed Ferdous

Bangladesh Kalyan Party

Wristwatch


EVM VOTE

>> Each polling centre will have an EVM ballot unit for the mayor, general ward councillor and reserved ward councillor elections

>> Technical teams will be on standby at each polling centre alongside regular election officials to provide assistance for any difficulties

>> Before a voter can cast their ballot, their identity is verified by the EVM through their fingerprint, voter number and national ID number. Polling officers will also be available at specified centres to verify voter identities

>> Polling agents will be able to check whether voters’ identities are declared valid or invalid by the database through a monitor

>> If a voter’s identity is declared valid, the voter will be allowed to cast their vote

>> A voter then goes to an assistant presiding officer and are shown to a ballot unit in a closed room

>> Once inside the closed room, the voter can select their preferred candidate and symbol using the white buttons on the right side of the ballot unit. Once pressed, a voter will have to confirm their selection by pressing the green CONFIRM button

LAW ENFORCERS DEPLOYED

>> 27 police strike teams will be deployed in the constituency until the day after the election

>> 64 mobile police teams, consisting of five members each, will also be deployed

>> Each polling centre will have a team of five policemen, led by a sub-inspector and 12 Ansars, 8 men and 4 women

>> 14 BGB platoons have been deployed and another six are on standby

>> RAB will field three striking forces, six checkpoints, seven patrol teams and two static forces

>> 27 executive magistrates and nine judicial magistrates have been operating in the wards since the start of the election campaign. On election day another 36 executive magistrates and 14 judicial magistrates will be deployed

POLL WATCHERS

The Election Commission has approved 42 members of nine registered election observers to oversee the polls.

Election observers will be present in the vote-counting room and the returning officer’s office when votes are consolidated.

In addition to these observers, some 1,000 local and national journalists will be covering the election.

A DECADE OF NARAYANGANJ CITY CORPORATION POLLS

The first Narayanganj City Corporation election was held on Oct 30, 2011. Shamim Osman, the ruling party-backed former member of parliament, lost to city Awami League Vice President Salina Hayat Ivy by over 100,000 votes.

The second city corporation election was held on Dec 22, 2016, and was the first to be contested by party candidates. The Awami League’s Salina Hayat Ivy was re-elected as mayor after beating BNP candidate Sakhawat Hossain Khan by about 75,000 votes.

Ivy took her oath of office for her second term on Jan 5, 2017. The city corporation had its first meeting on Feb 8, 2017.

The third Narayanganj City Corporation election is being held on Sunday, ahead of the Feb 7, 2022 deadline specified by the law.