Atiqul of Awami League re-elected mayor in Dhaka North

Atiqul Islam has been re-elected mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation by beating his nearest rival the BNP’s Tabith Awal by a margin of 183,050 votes.

The turnout, however, was 760,653 or 25.3 percent, lower than even the 29 percent in the South. Dhaka North has more than 3 million voters.

The ruling Awami League candidate got 447,211 votes while Tabith secured 264,161 ballots, Returning Officer Md Abul Kasem announced at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Agricultural University around 2:45am on Sunday after the daylong voting on Saturday.

Tabith had announced boycott halfway through the vote alleging irregularities in the 2015 elections he had lost, but this time he said he would fight until the end.

The BNP instead called a shutdown this time for Sunday in protest against “horrific vote rigging, forgery and intimidation” rejecting the results when Atiqul and his fellow Awami League candidate in the South, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, took huge early lead in the evening.

The other mayoral candidates in the North were Ahammed Sajjadul Haque from the Communist Party of Bangladesh with the symbol ‘Sickle', Shahin Khan from Progressive Democratic Party or PDP with the 'Tiger' symbol, Sheikh Md Fazle Bari Masud from the Islami Andolon Bangladesh with the ‘Winnowing-fan' symbol, and Md Anisur Rahman Dewan from the National People’s Party with the 'Mango' symbol.

‘FIVE-YEAR TEST MATCH’

Atiqul, a businessman, sought re-election after a nine-month stint in the office following the death of Annisul Huq, the first mayor of the city corporation after the bifurcation.

He solicited support from voters to press ahead with the initiatives that he has started already.

Atiqul Islam, the Awami League-backed candidate seeking reelection as Dhaka North's mayor, cast his ballots at the Nawab Habibullah Model School and College centre in Uttara on Saturday. Photo: Asif Mahmud Ove

“I’ve practised hard for nine months. Good practice brings good results in the final game. I hope the voters will give me the opportunity to play the five-year Test match,” he had said during the campaign.

In his manifesto, he outlined plans to institute a coordinated 'vector management' system to fight the mosquito menace and introduce an electric bus service to curb air pollution in the city.

He identified the mosquito-borne dengue diseases, including dengue, as the biggest challenge during his previous run.

He also plans to address the city's problems in coordination with the Dhaka South City Corporation, Ministry of Health, Dhaka WASA, neighbouring city corporations and other government bodies.

His manifesto carried the promise of establishing a resource-recovery facility in Aminbazar near Dhaka to dispose of the waste in a planned way before transforming it into fuel as part of a sustainable waste management scheme.

Hailing from Cumilla’s Daudkandi and born in his police officer father’s workplace Nilphamari, Atiqul grew up in the capital.

He is the youngest of late Momtazuddn Ahmed and Mazeda Khatun’s 11 children.

He joined business with his brother Shafiqul Islam, an engineer, in 1985 after passing SSC and HSC examinations from BAF Shaheen School and College. He graduated while doing business.

He now runs 16 companies, including Islam Garments with around 19,000 employees.

His brother Justice Md Tafazzul Islam is a former chief justice and retired lieutenant colonel Moinul Islam headed Border Guard Bangladesh during the reforms to the paramilitary force after the BDR mutiny.

Atiqul’s wife Shaila Sagufta Islam is a dental surgeon and their only daughter is Bushra Afreen.

The businessman headed BGMEA in the 2013-14 term when it launched Dhaka Apparel Summit.