Dhaka mayoral candidates set to hit campaign trail as EC allocates symbols

The 13 candidates running for the mayoral posts in the capital are set to officially launch their election campaigns after the returning officers for Dhaka North and South city corporations allocated their poll symbols.

Senior CorrespondentStaff correspondent and senior correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 10 Jan 2020, 10:31 AM
Updated : 10 Jan 2020, 10:31 AM

Returning Officer Abul Kashem assigned the election symbols to the six mayoral candidates in Dhaka North City Corporation with Returning Officer Abdul Baten allocating the symbols to the seven candidates in Dhaka South City Corporation on Friday.  

All 13 candidates have been nominated by registered political parties and are therefore contesting the election with their party symbols.

The electoral law stipulates that the contestants can kick off their campaigns for the elections after the allocation of symbols. The EC, however, received complaints that a few contestants had flouted this rule by canvassing before their electoral logo was allotted.

In this regard, the returning officers on Friday said the commission will ‘strictly’ monitor the issue of compliance with the electoral code of conduct.

The symbol allocation process for the DNCC candidates took place from 9:30 am to 10 am on Friday at National Institute of Local Government in Agargaon.

Mayoral candidates in the DSCC received their election symbols at the office of the returning officer in Gopibag's Sadek Hossain Khoka Community Centre at 10 am.

The polls to the Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations will be held on Jan 30 using the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) after 18 days of campaigning.

In total, 758 candidates are contesting for the posts of mayors, general ward councillors and councillors in  reserved wards under the jurisdiction of the bifurcated city corporations.

The DNCC houses 3.3 million voters while DSCC has 2.3 million voters.

DNCC ELECTION SYMBOLS

The incumbent DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam endorsed by the Awami League got the ‘boat’ symbol while the BNP-backed Tabith Awal was assigned the ‘paddy sheaf’ symbol.

The authority also assigned 'tiger' symbol to Shahin Khan from Progressive Democratic Party or PDP, the 'winnowing-fan' for Sheikh Md Fazle Bari Masud from the Islami Andolon Bangladesh, 'mango' for Md Anisur Rahman Dewan from National People’s Party and 'sickle' for Ahammed Sajjadul Haque from the Bangladesh Communist Party.

“The election campaign begins from today with the symbol allocation. We’ll not let anyone spoil the election atmosphere,” said Abul Kashem.

“Election is a festival. We’ll not let anyone to turn it into a conflict,” the returning officer added.

The candidates for general and reserved councillor seats in DNCC were also handed their election symbols.

“Our election work begins from today. We need to follow the code of conduct strictly as our candidate is nominated by the ruling party,” said Taufik Zahidur Rahman, a representative of Mayor Atiqul.

“We’ll begin our campaign from Uttara today. We hope to have an election amidst a festive atmosphere,” said Dhaka North BNP Joint General Secretary Moazzem Hossain on behalf of Tabith Awal.

At least 251 candidates are vying for the 54 posts of general ward councillor in the DNCC while 77 are contesting for the 18 councillor posts reserved for women.

DSCC ELECTION SYMBOLS

Ali Asif Khan collected the ruling party's 'boat' symbol on behalf of the Awami League-endorsed mayoral aspirant Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.

Ishraque Hossain, the son of former mayor of Dhaka Sadeque Hossain Khoka and backed by the BNP, was assigned the ‘paddy sheaf’ symbol. Meanwhile, the authority assigned the 'plough' symbol to Jatiya Party's Mohammed Saifuddin, the 'winnowing-fan' to Islami Andolon's Md Abdur Rahman, 'mango' to Bahrane Sultan Bahar, 'coconut' to Md Akhtaruzzaman and 'fish' to Abdus Samad from Gonofront.

The 335 candidates vying for the general councillor posts in 75 wards also received their symbols followed by allocation for the 82 contestants for the 25 councillor posts reserved for women.

The contestants are now  able to run their campaign following the law,

“The candidates can use megaphones from 2 pm to 8 pm for their campaign. They can set up camps with prior permission from the Election Commission.  They cannot organise any procession, showdown, rally or install archways but they can attend informal meetings,” said DSCC Returning Officer Abdul Baten.
 
Complaints were lodged against a few candidates for hanging posters even before the start of the formal campaign, he said. “We asked the executive magistrate to monitor the issue,” said Baten.