Mayoral picks for DNCC, DSCC polls

Tough job for AL, BNP 

As the date for finalising the mayoral candidates for the Dhaka South and Dhaka North city corporations approaches, the ruling Awami League (AL) is apparently facing difficulties in making its selection among five prospective candidates in the South while the Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is finding it hard to choose among two potential candidates in the North.

On the other hand, while the AL looks quite comfortable with its lone potential candidate in Dhaka North, the BNP looks equally comfortable with its sole candidate in the South.

The five mayoral aspirants of the AL in the South are incumbent mayor Syeed Khokan, two lawmakers—barrister Sheikh Fazle Taposh and Haji Selim, the former secretary-general of the Muktijoddha Central Command Council, MA Rashid, and the president of the Bangabandhu Academy, Md Nazmul Haque, while the two BNP mayoral aspirants in the North are BNP executive member Tabith Awal and the party’s special secretary Asaduzzaman Ripon.

In the North, incumbent mayor M Atiqul Islam is the potential candidate of the ruling AL though three others have collected party nomination papers while engineer Ishraque Hossain, son of the former Dhaka city Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, is the lone candidate of the BNP. The collection of nomination papers by the incumbent mayor of Dhaka South Syeed Khokan indicates that the party would face difficulties in choosing its mayoral candidate from among the party stalwarts.

While collecting the nomination papers at the AL president's Dhanmondi office yesterday (Thursday), Syeed Khokon wept, seeking blessings from people of all strata of life.

On Wednesday, the ruling party’s lawmakers Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Haji Selim, MA Rashid and Md Nazmul Haque bought nomination papers to contest the DSCC polls as mayoral candidates. The elections to both the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) will be held on January 30.

The incumbent mayor of DNCC, M Atiqul Islam, also collected nomination papers of the AL on Wednesday to contest from Dhaka North. The joint general secretary of Bangabandhu Foundation, Shahidullah Osmani, the party’s Vasantek thana unit vice-president M Yead Ali Fakir and party activist M Jaman Bhuyan also bought nomination papers on the same day to contest the mayoral election from Dhaka North.

With this, a total of nine aspirants—five in South and four in North—sought nomination papers from the ruling AL against the two mayoral posts in the DSCC and DNCC. Party sources said either Fazle Noor Taposh or incumbent mayor Syeed Khokan is likely to get the party nomination for Dhaka South while incumbent mayor M Atiqul Islam is likely to get the party nomination for Dhaka North.

Meanwhile, only three prospective mayoral candidates yesterday (Thursday) collected the BNP nomination papers for the two mayoral posts of Dhaka South and North. If there is no new aspirant in the South, Ishraque Hossain will get the BNP nomination unopposed.

Ishraque Hossain collected the nomination forms from his party’s central office for Dhaka South while Tabith Awal and Asaduzzaman Ripon are contesting from Dhaka North. BNP senior joint secretary-general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and others were present on the occasion.

Both the AL and its arch rival, the BNP, will finalise the party’s mayoral candidates on December 28 after interviewing the aspirants at the respective interview boards.

BNP sources said the party has already given the green signal to Ishraque Hossain to contest the polls from Dhaka South and Tabith Awal from Dhaka North. Talking to reporters, Ishraque Hossain said he wants to take part in the election as part of the greater movement to free party chairperson Khaleda Zia and restore the voting rights of the people. Tabith Awal expressed his optimism about obtaining his nomination and said if he voted to power, he would work for the welfare of the city’s residents.

According to the schedule, the last date for submission of nomination papers is December 31 while the scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on January 2. The deadline for the withdrawal of candidatures is January 9.

The entire elections would be held through using electronic voting machines (EVM). Voting will take place from 8am to 4pm on January 30.

 

 

Mayoral picks for DNCC, DSCC polls

Tough job for AL, BNP 

As the date for finalising the mayoral candidates for the Dhaka South and Dhaka North city corporations approaches, the ruling Awami League (AL) is apparently facing difficulties in making its selection among five prospective candidates in the South while the Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is finding it hard to choose among two potential candidates in the North. On the other hand, while the AL looks quite comfortable with its lone potential candidate in Dhaka North, the BNP looks equally comfortable with its sole candidate in the South. The five mayoral aspirants of the AL in the South are incumbent mayor Syeed Khokan, two lawmakersbarrister Sheikh Fazle Taposh and Haji Selim, the former secretary-general of the Muktijoddha Central Command Council, MA Rashid, and the president of the Bangabandhu Academy, Md Nazmul Haque, while the two BNP mayoral aspirants in the North are BNP executive member Tabith Awal and the partys special secretary Asaduzzaman Ripon. In the North, incumbent mayor M Atiqul Islam is the potential candidate of the ruling AL though three others have collected party nomination papers while engineer Ishraque Hossain, son of the former Dhaka city Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, is the lone candidate of the BNP. The collection of nomination papers by the incumbent mayor of Dhaka South Syeed Khokan indicates that the party would face difficulties in choosing its mayoral candidate from among the party stalwarts. While collecting the nomination papers at the AL presidents Dhanmondi office yesterday (Thursday), Syeed Khokon wept, seeking blessings from people of all strata of life. On Wednesday, the ruling partys lawmakers Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Haji Selim, MA Rashid and Md Nazmul Haque bought nomination papers to contest the DSCC polls as mayoral candidates. The elections to both the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) will be held on January 30. The incumbent mayor of DNCC, M Atiqul Islam, also collected nomination papers of the AL on Wednesday to contest from Dhaka North. The joint general secretary of Bangabandhu Foundation, Shahidullah Osmani, the partys Vasantek thana unit vice-president M Yead Ali Fakir and party activist M Jaman Bhuyan also bought nomination papers on the same day to contest the mayoral election from Dhaka North. With this, a total of nine aspirantsfive in South and four in Northsought nomination papers from the ruling AL against the two mayoral posts in the DSCC and DNCC. Party sources said either Fazle Noor Taposh or incumbent mayor Syeed Khokan is likely to get the party nomination for Dhaka South while incumbent mayor M Atiqul Islam is likely to get the party nomination for Dhaka North. Meanwhile, only three prospective mayoral candidates yesterday (Thursday) collected the BNP nomination papers for the two mayoral posts of Dhaka South and North. If there is no new aspirant in the South, Ishraque Hossain will get the BNP nomination unopposed. Ishraque Hossain collected the nomination forms from his partys central office for Dhaka South while Tabith Awal and Asaduzzaman Ripon are contesting from Dhaka North. BNP senior joint secretary-general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and others were present on the occasion. Both the AL and its arch rival, the BNP, will finalise the partys mayoral candidates on December 28 after interviewing the aspirants at the respective interview boards. BNP sources said the party has already given the green signal to Ishraque Hossain to contest the polls from Dhaka South and Tabith Awal from Dhaka North. Talking to reporters, Ishraque Hossain said he wants to take part in the election as part of the greater movement to free party chairperson Khaleda Zia and restore the voting rights of the people. Tabith Awal expressed his optimism about obtaining his nomination and said if he voted to power, he would work for the welfare of the citys residents. According to the schedule, the last date for submission of nomination papers is December 31 while the scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on January 2. The deadline for the withdrawal of candidatures is January 9. The entire elections would be held through using electronic voting machines (EVM). Voting will take place from 8am to 4pm on January 30.