BCC, KCC polls end almost peacefully

The polls to Barishal City Corporation (BCC) and Khulna City Corporation (KCC) were held on Monday. 

The voting began at 8am and continued till 4pm without any break.

Although the voting went fairly and smoothly in the two cities, there were allegations of attacks on Syed Faizul Karim around noon, the mayoral candidate of Islami Andolan Bangladesh in the election in Barisal. Several party leaders including him were injured.

The KCC polls was held at 1,732 polling booths in 289 polling centres using around 3,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs).

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.

Five candidates 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).

Meanwhile, seven candidates are running for mayor in the BCC elections, 119 for ordinary council seats, and 42 for reserved seats.

The mayoral candidates are – Awami League (AL) candidate Abul Khair Abdullah (Boat), Jatiya Party's Iqbal Hossain Taposh (Plough), Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Mufti Syed Mohammad Faizul Karim (Hand fan), Zaker Party's Mizanur Rahman Bachchu (Rose), independent candidate Kamrul Ahsan (Table clock), Asaduzzaman (Elephant) and Ali Hossain Howlader (Deer).

A total of 2,76,298 voters — 1,37,489 male and 1,38, 809 female — were expected to exercise their franchise.

The authorities have taken three-tier security measures for holding the polls peacefully.