AL candidate loses in Hasina's citadel

The BNP-backed candidate has been elected chairman in the Pirganj Upazila Parishad elections in Rangpur, a parliamentary constituency from where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was elected in the Jan 5 elections.

The balloting, in the first phase of the local body polls, in this Upazila was held on Monday. It was supposed to take place on Feb 19 along with other 97 Upazilas, but was deferred because of a by-poll there.

Assistant Returning Officer ATM Ziaul Islam announced the results of 106 polling centres late on Monday night.

The results showed that BNP-backed Nur Mohammad Mandal beat his Awami League-backed rival Sayadat Hossain by over 4,000 votes.

Mandal bagged 74,942 votes while Hossain got 70,877 votes.

Another aspirant for the chairman post, Awami League’s rebel candidate Meshkoyara Habib got 13,952 votes.

The BNP and its allies had boycotted the Jan 5 national elections, but they are contesting in the local government body polls.

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina had lost to Nur Mohammad Mandal in 2001 parliamentary election. He was a Jatiya Party leader then.

Hasina, however, won in the 2008 polls. Mandal, by then had changed his party and contested in BNP ticket.

After the Awami League won a landslide in the 10th general election, Hasina kept her own Gopalganj-3 constituency and vacated the Rangpur-6 (Pirganj).

Pirganj is the home of the Prime Minister’s in-laws.

Later, Speaker of Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was elected MP from Rangpur-6.

Chairman candidates backed by the BNP-led 19-Party alliance have won at 57 of the 98 Upazila Parishads, including Pirganj, in the first phase of the elections. Awami League candidates were elected chairmen at 33.

Leaders of the 19-Party alliance have also won in Vice-Chairman and Woman Vice-Chairman posts at most of the 98 local government bodies.