BCC, KCC polls underway

Barishal City Corporation (BCC) and Khulna City Corporation (KCC) polls are being held Monday.

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

The KCC polls will be 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).

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

Meanwhile, for the BCC polls, seven candidates are vying for the mayoral post while 119 councillors for general post and 42 for reserved posts.

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 — will exercise their franchise.

/KN/MHK/