Photo : TDM
The ruling Awami League nominated mayoral candidates, Abul Khair Abdullah and Talukder Abdul Khaleque, emerged victorious in the Barishal City Corporation and Khulna City Corporation elections, respectively. The elections were largely peaceful and festive.
Abul Khair Abdullah secured 86,997 votes in Barishal, while his closest competitor, Syed Faizul Karim from Islami Andolon Bangladesh (IAB), received 33307 votes. In Khulna, Talukder Abdul Khaleque garnered 1,54,825 votes, with the IAB candidate Md. Abdul Awal receiving 60,064 votes.
Notably, the IAB candidates were the main rivals of the Awami League candidates in both cities. Despite this, the elections concluded without major disturbances or clashes between the supporters of the mayoral candidates.
The city corporation elections, which were closely watched, concluded in an orderly manner at 4 pm on Monday. The voting took place from 8 am to 4 pm in Barishal and Khulna. While Barishal recorded high voter turnout, Khulna witnessed relatively lower participation.
During the Barishal City Corporation elections, there were allegations of an attack on Syed Faizul Karim, the IAB candidate. The media cell of IAB also reported incidents of attacks on their activists, obstruction of entry for polling agents, eviction of agents from polling centers, voter obstruction, and forced casting of votes.
Following their defeat in the Barishal City polls, IAB supreme leader Mufti Mohammad Rezaul Karim rejected the election results and called for protest rallies across the country on June 16.
He labeled the city polls as rigged and farcical, announcing that his party leaders would not participate in any upcoming elections under the incumbent Sheikh Hasina administration.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal estimated the voter turnout to be approximately 50% in the Barishal City Corporation election and between 42% and 45% in the Khulna City Corporation polls.
Awal assured that preparations had been made to prevent post-election violence in Barishal and Khulna. He stated that the polling in both cities was conducted in a free and fair manner, except for a few incidents.
Election officials in Barishal reported significantly low voter turnout in most polling centers due to heavy rainfall. The presiding officers at various centers confirmed the low presence of voters since the morning, further aggravated by the rain. Similar situations were observed in nearly all the polling centers.
In the Barishal City Corporation elections, there were five mayoral candidates, 136 councilor candidates for 31 general wards, and 39 reserved ward councilor candidates competing for 39 seats. The total number of voters in the city corporation was 535,529, including 266,696 female voters and 268,833 male voters. Voting took place in 1,732 booths across 289 centers.
Abul Khair Abdullah cast his vote at the Government Barisal College, while the incumbent Barishal City Corporation Mayor Serniabad Sadiq Abdullah, who is also the secretary of the Awami League city unit, did not vote in the city corporation polls.
In the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) elections, there were five candidates contending for the mayoral position: former mayor Talukdar Abdul Khalek (Awami League), Maulana Abdul Awal (IAB), Shafiqul Islam Madhu (Jatiya Party), S.M. Sabbir Hossain (Jaker Party), and independent candidate Shafiqur Rahman (Mushfik).
For the Barishal City elections, there were seven candidates competing for the mayoral position: Abdul Khayer Abdullah (Awami League), M. Kamrul Ahsan (Independent), Mufti Syed M. Fazlul Karim (IAB), M.A. Ali Haulader (Independent), Mizanur Rahman Bachchu (Jaker Party), M. Ekbal Hossen (Jatiya Party), and M. Asaduzzaman (Independent).
TDM/SD
