Arfanul Haque Rifat gets Awami League nomination for Cumilla city polls
Staff Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 13 May 2022 11:54 PM BdST Updated: 13 May 2022 11:54 PM BdST
The ruling party has endorsed its Cumilla city unit General Secretary Arfanul Haque Rifat for the Jun 15 mayoral race.
In a crowded pool of 14 nomination seekers, Rifat’s bid for the ticket was validated by party stalwarts at a meeting with Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Friday.
Rifat’s main opponent in the race is the current mayor Monirul Haque Sakku, a BNP-supported candidate.
If Sakku retains his mayorship on Jun 15, it will be his third consecutive win against Awami League candidates in successive polls.
Sakku defeated senior Awami League leader Afzal Khan in the maiden election to the city corporation in 2012 and won again against Afzal’s daughter Anjum Sultana Sima, who later had become a parliament member from the reserved seats, in 2017.
In an immediate reaction, Rifat expressed gratitude towards the party chief for having faith in him.
“I will do my best to return the faith she [Sheikh Hasina] has in me by winning the polls on June 15,” he said.
If elected, the leader of the ruling party’s Cumilla unit has also pledged to keep the city hall “open for all”.
“I will not be partisan, rather I will transform the city hall to a ‘Big Tent,’ where citizens from all walks of the city can come to seek services,” Arfanul said.
The newly-formed Election Commission on Apr 25 announced the schedule of polls for the Cumilla city race, along with six other municipalities and 135 Union Parishads.
Electronic voting machines will be used in all the elections.
The deadline for filing nominations is May 17. Symbols will be allocated to candidates on May 27.
-
Estonia urges no compromise with Putin
-
Trump’s faith in celebrity could finally backfire
-
A conspiracy theory is refashioned by GOP
-
BJP leader slapped on camera
-
Hasina joins Young Bangla
-
BJP names Manik Saha Tripura CM
-
Republicans wrongly tie Biden policies to baby formula shortage
-
Sri Lankan president to appoint new PM this week
-
Estonia’s tough voice on Ukraine urges no compromise with Putin
-
Donald Trump’s faith in celebrity could finally backfire
-
A fringe conspiracy theory, fostered online, is refashioned by the GOP
-
BJP leader slapped on camera over comments against veteran politician Sharad Pawar
-
Hasina joins Young Bangla, youth front of CRI
-
India’s BJP names Manik Saha chief minister of Tripura
Most Read
- Exhausted, weak wild elephant prefers to stay close to humans
- Bangladesh Bank devalues taka again as US dollar hits record high
- Bangladesh announces Padma bridge tolls, a step closer to inauguration
- US police say college student Zinat’s death was a suicide. Her family disagrees
- Azovstal siege ends as hundreds of Ukrainian fighters surrender
- Bangladesh writes to India for PK Halder details, but does not expect extradition now
- About a dozen buses carrying Ukrainian Azovstal servicemen leave plant
- PM Hasina urges restraint amid surging commodity prices in global markets: Mannan
- Sri Lanka down to last day of petrol, PM tells crisis-hit nation
- 10 people killed and 3 wounded in shooting at Buffalo grocery store