Zahangir’s mother Zayeda elected Gazipur mayor defeating AL's Azmat

In the Gazipur City Corporation election, independent candidate Zayeda Khatun, mother of expelled ruling party leader Zahangir Alam,  defeated Awami League-backed candidate Azmat Ullah Khan by a margin of 16,197 votes.

The returning officer, Faridul Islam, reported that Zayeda received 2,38,934 votes while Azmat bagged 2,22,737.

At the 480 polling places in Gazipur city, the turnout was 48.75 percent.

Voting was held from 8am to 4pm on Thursday using EVM in all polling centres.

There are approximately 11,794,764 voters in the GCC, which consists of 57 total wards. Male voters make up 5,92,762 of them, female voters are 5,86,696, and the remaining 18 are hijras.

Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said the election to Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) was held in very fair, peaceful, free and impartial manner.

“We are very satisfied with the way the election was held. Because everyone, including the candidates, has expressed satisfaction. No one committed any wrongdoing in the whole day's voting. This is our big success,” he said.

Alamgir made the comments while briefing journalists on GCC polls at the Election Commission office in Dhaka's Agargaon on Thursday afternoon.

Replying to a question, he said it is not possible to tell the exact percentage of the turnout but it is not less than 50 percent.

Five parties have nominated candidates for the post of mayor in the election. 

There are eight mayoral candidates in the voting competition, including three independent candidates. 

BNP and its allies boycotted the vote.

The most talked-about candidates were independent Zaida Khatun, the mother of former mayor Zahangir Alam, and AL nominee for mayor Azmat Ullah Khan.

Azmat ran for mayor in 2013 but lost to MA Mannan of the BNP. With AL's approval, Zahangir Alam was elected mayor of the largest city corporation in the nation in 2018.

Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam said a total of 13,000 law enforcers were deployed to maintain law and order during the election.