Nearly 400,000 voters have begun to cast their ballots to elect public representatives for the northern city of Rangpur.
Published : 21 Dec 2017, 09:24 AM
Voting began at the 193 polling centres in the Rangpur City Corporation around 8am, election officials said. The polls will close at 4pm.
Despite the morning chill, voters were seen lining up outside the polling centres. So far there have been no reported disruptions.
The last major polls of the year are likely to be a tight race as the three major parties have each fielded candidates. Seven candidates will be competing for the mayor’s post while 276 candidates are looking for council seats.
The ruling Awami League has expressed optimism about a victory in the mayor’s seat.
Jatiya Party Chairperson HM Ershad has also expressed confidence regarding the race in his party’s stronghold. The BNP, however, has expressed concerns about vote rigging.
The Election Commission says it wants to present the nation with a ‘model election’ in Rangpur ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections and has taken all possible measures to ensure a smooth process.
The morning turnout at the Mahiganj Government Primary School polling centre seemed quite high. The lack of fog encouraged many to cast their ballots early, voters said.
According to the centre’s Presiding Officer Md Wahiduzzaman, a total of 2,945 voters are registered to the centre. Voting has proceeded without interruption since the polls opened.
The turnout will increase as the day wears on, hoped Wahiduzzaman.
“We have received word that voting at all polling centres started smoothly this morning,” said the election’s Returning Officer Subhash Chandra Sarkar. “We hope the mood will be festive. We are determined to have a peaceful election.”
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Rangpur Range) Khandaker Golam Faruq said police have taken 'all sorts of measures' to keep the law and order normal.
More than 5,500 law-enforcement members will be deployed on the spot. The executive magistrate, judicial magistrate and a monitoring team from the EC will supervise the process.
A total of 211 candidates will vie for 33 posts of general ward councillors while 65 will fight for posts of councillors in 11 reserved wards.
The city has a total of 393,894 voters: 196,256 male and 197,638 female.
As many as 3,559 election officers will be on duty at the polling centres.
AL vs JP?
Seven candidates are in contention for the mayor’s post, but the residents of the city say the main battle will be fought between the ruling Awami League’s mayoral candidate Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu and its ally the Jatiya Party’s Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa.
The 400,000 voters will decide on Thursday whether Jhantu will continue for another term or he will cede the ground to Mostafa.
To the Awami League leaders, Jhantu’s victory will be a reflection of the people’s support for the government’s work.
“We think the people will keep confidence in ‘boat’ (AL’s electoral symbol) to maintain continuity of the development work,” he said.
Jatiya Party leaders are banking on their chief HM Ershad’s image to take Mostafa across the line.
“Rangpur is Ershad’s stronghold. And Ershad means ‘plough’ (JP’s polls logo). The people will pick the ‘plough’,” the party’s Rangpur city unit General Secretary AM Yasir said.
On the eve of the polling day, Jhantu and Mostafa spent time meeting their supporters at home.
“I will win and this time, I hope, with a bigger margin,” Jhantu said.
Mostafa was equally confident. “Plough’ is the symbol of the soil of Rangpur and its people. There will be vote surge for ‘plough’. I will win a landslide victory.”
The other candidates are the BNP’s Kawsar Zaman Babla, Abdul Quddus of the Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal or BaSaD, ATM Golam Mostafa Babu of the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Selim Akhter of the National People’s Party and independent candidate Hossain Maqbul Shahriar Asif.
Asif, a nephew of Jatiya Party chief Ershad, was recently expelled from the party for going against the decision to nominate Mostafa. He is fighting as a rebel candidate.
‘Big test for EC’
While campaigning for Babla with the BNP’s ‘paddy sheaf’ symbol on Monday, the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the civic polls would not bring change to power in Dhaka, but the result was very important ahead of the next parliamentary election.
He also said the Awami League was a party full of 'vote thieves' and asked the BNP supporters to guard the voting centres against attempts of rigging.
In reaction to his comments, Awami League Publicity and Publications Secretary Hasan Mahmud said Mirza Fakhrul was ‘talking gibberish' as he knew their candidate will not even finish second.
Jatiya Party leaders, in a meeting with CEC Nurul Huda at the EC offices on Wednesday, termed the Rangpur polls ‘an acid test’ for the commission.
“People are looking forward to the Rangpur City Corporation election. It is like an acid test for you. You will win people’s trust if you can successfully hold the election,” Opposition Chief Whip Tajul Islam said at the meeting.
Abdul Alim, Director, Election Working Group or EWG, a platform of organisations of election observers, said the election by the end of the year is important for the government, EC and the parties.
He said the current EC could make a good start with Comilla City Election and hoped it would continue to do so in Rangpur.
“If the election remains fair, if the people can return home after casting vote without any hindrance, they will get a positive message about the next election,” he said.
CEC Nurul Huda, speaking to the media at the EC headquarters in Dhaka in the afternoon, said the “situation in Rangpur is under control”.
“All preparations are done. We believe an orderly, fair and credible election will be held,” Huda said.
Election Commissioner Rafiqul Islam said, “We want to set an example with the Rangpur city polls. We will ensure that the voters return to their home after casting their votes safely.”