KCC polls begins this morning

Khulna City Corporation (KCC) polls will begin this morning.

The Elections will be held at 1,732 polling booths in 289 polling centres using around 3,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) from 8am to 4pm.

Five candidates, who are vying for mayoral post, are- AL backed Talukder Abdul Khaleque (Boat), Jatiya Party's Shafiqul Islam Modhu (Plough), Bangladesh Islami Andolon's Moulana Abdul Awal (Hand Fan), Zaker Party's SM Sabbir Hossain (Rose) and independent candidate Shafiqur Rahman Mushfiq (Table clock).

A total of 173 candidates, including five for mayoral, 134 for 31 general councilors' and 39 for 10 reserved female councilors' posts, are contesting in the KCC polls.

The authorities have taken three-tier security measures for holding a the KCC polls peacefully amid complete security blanket.

Commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) Masudur Rahman Bhuiyan said around 8,300 members of the law enforcement agencies including 4,520 police men, 300 APBn, 3468 Ansers have been deployed in the city on Sunday. 

Fifteen striking forces including 8 reserve force and five standby forces consist of 55 in each team, 62 mobile petrol teams of KMP have also been deployed for holding the KCC polls peacefully amid tight security blankets.

Besides, at least 11 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in the city area while five have been kept as a reserve force, he added.

A total of 2,320 CCTV cameras have been installed both inside and outside the polling booths.

On the other hand, a total of 16 striking forces of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have been deployed in the KCC polls, said Commanding Officer of RAB-6 Lt Col Firoz Kabir.

As many as 5,35,522 voters, including 2,68,828 male and 2,66,698 female, will cast their votes in the KCC polls.