AL wins mayoral polls to Barishal, Khulna

Staff Reporter  :
Awami League candidates Abul Khaer Abdullah and Talukder Abdul Khaleque have been elected mayors of Barishal and Khulna cities, respectively.
Abul Khaer got 87,808 votes, while Khaleque secured 154,825 votes, according to unofficial results announced by the returning officers on Monday night.
Their nearest rivals were from the Islami Andolan Bangladesh. The party’s candidate Mufti Syed Fayjul Karim in Barishal bagged 33,828 votes while Md A Awal in Khulna 60,064.
The Islami Andolan rejected the results alleging irregularities and assault on Fayjul.

It also pulled out of the upcoming Sylhet and Rajshahi city corporation elections.
The party’s chief Mufti Rezaul Karim, aka Charmonai Peer, said: “Islami Andolan Bangladesh candidate Mufti Syed Fayjul Karim was attacked twice and injured today. We condemn the incident.”
Rezaul alleged that the Awami League took control of the voting booths to carry out irregularities. “We reject the results of the two city polls to protest such severe misconduct. We are also withdrawing our candidates from Sylhet and Rajshahi and demanding the resignation of the chief election officer at the same time.”
The vote was cast for Awami League candidate Khaleque even though Islami Andolan supporters pressed the button for their party candidate, alleged Abdul Awal.
Amid a boycott by the BNP and its allies, the turnout was 51.46 percent in Barishal and 48.17 percent in Khulna.
Besides the attack, no major incident was reported during voting through electronic machines from 8am to 4pm, but voters suffered due to rains in the afternoon. Those who arrived before 4pm were allowed to cast their ballots.

“The vote was largely peaceful and enthusiastic, except for some isolated incidents,” Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said, promising action against those responsible for the attack on Fayjul.
Long queues of voters were seen in some of the centres. Many of them stood for two hours to cast their ballots. It took more time to cast a vote due to the Electronic Voting Machines, some voters complained.
Earlier, sporadic incidents of clashes and irregularities at various polling centres marred the Barishal City Corporation (BCC) and Khulna City Corporation (KCC) elections.
The Barishal mayoral candidate Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim came under attack during the election by the supporters of the ruling party mayoral candidate, leaving him and a number of his supporters injured at Kawnia Secondary Girls School centre.
Meanwhile, Islami Andolon Bangladesh Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim rejected results of Barishal and Khulna elections and at the same time they have boycotted the elections of Sylhet and Rajshahi.
Apart from this, Islami Andolon Bangladesh announced countrywide protest programme on Friday demanding the resignation of the government and the Election Commission, Faizul Karim said this in a press conference held at Barishal city.

Following the attack on the Ameer of Islami Andolon Bangladesh, widely considered as a pro-Awami League Islamic party, Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim, his party leaders and workers staged demonstration in front of the national mosque Baitul Mokarram, which was cordoned off by the policemen on Monday afternoon.
They brought out a procession and marched from Paltan to Nightingale intersection and ended at Paltan where thousands of party leaders and workers participated.
During the demonstration, party leaders said that there were various irregularities in the Barishal city corporation since morning. The administration assured that the election would be held peacefully, but it was not held accordingly rather their Amir has been ‘brutally’ attacked. The Election Commission could not ensure security of the candidates.
They demanded immediate arrest of the attackers and bring them to justice. They have also given 24-hour ultimatum to arrest the perpetrators. The party leaders also said that they would announce the next programme after observing the election results. On the other hand, the supporters of AL candidate Abul Khair Abdullah Khokon Serniabat denied the allegations, claiming they had only advised the opposing group to avoid entering the polling center with a large crowd.

Meanwhile, Jatiya Party-backed mayoral candidate Iqbal Hossain Taposh and independent candidate Kamrul Islam Rupon alleged that voters were being barred from coming to the polling stations during Barishal City Corporation election.
Returning officer Humayun Kabir said they were aware of ‘chaos’ over entering a polling centre.
Khulna City Corporation Election:

Jatiya Party (Ershad)-backed mayoral candidate Md Shafiqul Islam Madhu alleged that his agents were being barred from entering polling centres by supporters of the Awami League candidate. He made the allegation while talking to the media after casting his vote at the Collegiate School centre, under Ward 17 in Sonadanga Residential Area of Khulna city.
The Jatiya Party-backed candidate said that a fair election under the current government is not possible.
On the other hand, Awami League-backed candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque expressed his satisfaction over the electoral process, stating that the election was being conducted fairly and that he would accept the outcome determined by the voters.
In the Khulna city corporation election, five candidates vied for the mayoral post, while 136 for councillors in 29 general wards, and 30 for reserved seats contested the poll. Prior to the election, two councilors councillors for wards 13 and 24 were elected unopposed.

To ensure a secure voting environment, the elections in both cities witnessed the deployment of law enforcement personnel. In Khulna, eleven platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were present, along with 8,080 members of of police, Ansar, and Rapid Action Battalion members. Similarly, ten platoons of the BGB and additional law enforcement officers were deployed in Barishal.
Meanwhile, EC monitored the polls of these two cities through CCTV cameras from the Agargaon election building in the capital.
“Everyone including the chief election commissioner monitored every CCTV camera. The presence of voters in such a festive atmosphere since morning is beyond imagination. The Commission has assured voters of fair elections and encouraged them to arrive at the centres to cast votes,” Election Commissioner Md Ahsan Habib Khan said.