Ishraque demands mayoral oath again

Staff Reporter :

BNP leader Ishraque Hossain has urged Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to immediately intervene and ensure his swearing-in as mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), in line with a court verdict that declared him the legitimate office-holder.
Speaking at Nagar Bhaban on Sunday, where he and his supporters have resumed a sit-in protest after Eid, Ishraque said, “The government is constitutionally bound to swear me in as mayor as per the court ruling. By not doing so, Adviser Asif Mahmud Sojib Bhuiyan has violated the Constitution.”
As part of the renewed protest, the main gate of Nagar Bhaban was locked by Ishraque’s supporters under the banner of “Amra Dhakabashi.” However, the BNP leader pledged that emergency services-such as birth registration and waste management-would continue to operate under
their supervision, while development-related departments would be halted.
“We don’t want the public to suffer,” Ishraque said, blaming the Local Government Division and its officials for what he called a “deliberate deadlock.”
Ishraque also accused the National Citizen Party (NCP) of disrupting the Election Commission’s earlier efforts to implement the court verdict. “When the commission was moving forward with my issue, a group from a party named NCP created a mob in front of the commission. Since then, the commission has been evading responsibility. If they don’t like the outcome, they create mobs,” he alleged.
He further argued that denying his oath legitimizes what he termed “the illegal mayorship of Taposh and the fraudulent elections under Hasina’s rule,” pointing to the broader political implications of his exclusion.
“The court verdict proves that the elections under Sheikh Hasina’s rule were rigged, with people’s victories stolen through fraud,” he said.
Despite locking the building, Ishraque stated that their protest would remain peaceful and service-oriented. “We will continue our movement. Although we won’t break open the main gate, emergency services will run under our supervision,” he reiterated.
Support for the protest came from Moshiur Rahman, a former bureaucrat and coordinator of “Amra Dhakabashi,” who declared, “We have declared Asif [Bhuiyan] unwanted at Nagar Bhaban. We will continue our movement.”
Ishraque’s protest, now reenergized after the Eid break, adds further tension to an already strained political landscape, as the interim government navigates critical reform talks with major parties ahead of the proposed 2026
general elections.