No army in N’ganj polls: EC

Central leaders of the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are currently staying in Narayanganj for mobilising voters in favour of their candidates for the City Corporation elections slated for December 22. It is a prestige fight for the AL to retain the mayoral post, and the BNP is looking to establish its supremacy in the port city, 16km south-east of Dhaka. The ruling party wants a free, fair and competitive election, so that its arch rival cannot raise questions about the polls and make it an issue for organising a movement against the Sheikh Hasina government. On the other hand, the BNP wants to go from door to door and highlight the government’s "misdeeds". To these ends, stalwarts of the AL and BNP have drawn up their campaign strategies.
A ruling party team, led by AL presidium member Kazi Zafarullah, will be staying in Narayanganj from today. It will issue instructions to the party candidate, Selina Hayat Ivy, and carry out hectic campaigning.
“We will be staying in Narayanganj along with central leaders till the election day, and campaign for Ivy,” said Delwar Hossain, the AL's forest and environment affairs secretary.
BNP heavyweights, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, started campaigning for the party candidate, Shakhawat Hossain, in the city’s Shidhirganj area, yesterday.
Insiders said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is expected to join the campaign soon.
During his campaign, Fakhrul Islam said the future of Bangladesh depends on how the elections are held in Narayanganj. “If people can exercise their franchise freely, our candidate will win,” he said.
The BNP secretary general said the party is taking part in the polls as it wants to go to the people. The Sheikh Hasina government has been harassing BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists by filing false cases against them, for which they are unable to reach the people, he alleged.
“Through the elections we want to highlight the government’s misdeeds before the people,” he added. Calling upon the Narayanganj people to vote for the BNP mayoral candidate, Fakhrul iterated his demand for deployment of the Army on polling day. The AL candidate, Ivy, along with national football players, campaigned at Chashara in the city yesterday. Talking to the media, she said the Election Commission (EC) should take steps to hold the December 22 elections in a free, fair and credible manner. “I told the EC that I don’t want any favour from the commission. If it thinks that the Army or other forces should be deployed during polling, it can do it. It’s up to the EC now,” she said. However, the chief election commissioner (CEC), Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, said yesterday that there is no need for Army deployment for the Narayanganj City Corporation polls, as the law and order situation there is fine.

 

No army in Nganj polls: EC

Central leaders of the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are currently staying in Narayanganj for mobilising voters in favour of their candidates for the City Corporation elections slated for December 22. It is a prestige fight for the AL to retain the mayoral post, and the BNP is looking to establish its supremacy in the port city, 16km south-east of Dhaka. The ruling party wants a free, fair and competitive election, so that its arch rival cannot raise questions about the polls and make it an issue for organising a movement against the Sheikh Hasina government. On the other hand, the BNP wants to go from door to door and highlight the governments misdeeds. To these ends, stalwarts of the AL and BNP have drawn up their campaign strategies. A ruling party team, led by AL presidium member Kazi Zafarullah, will be staying in Narayanganj from today. It will issue instructions to the party candidate, Selina Hayat Ivy, and carry out hectic campaigning. We will be staying in Narayanganj along with central leaders till the election day, and campaign for Ivy, said Delwar Hossain, the ALs forest and environment affairs secretary. BNP heavyweights, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, started campaigning for the party candidate, Shakhawat Hossain, in the citys Shidhirganj area, yesterday. Insiders said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is expected to join the campaign soon. During his campaign, Fakhrul Islam said the future of Bangladesh depends on how the elections are held in Narayanganj. If people can exercise their franchise freely, our candidate will win, he said. The BNP secretary general said the party is taking part in the polls as it wants to go to the people. The Sheikh Hasina government has been harassing BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists by filing false cases against them, for which they are unable to reach the people, he alleged. Through the elections we want to highlight the governments misdeeds before the people, he added. Calling upon the Narayanganj people to vote for the BNP mayoral candidate, Fakhrul iterated his demand for deployment of the Army on polling day. The AL candidate, Ivy, along with national football players, campaigned at Chashara in the city yesterday. Talking to the media, she said the Election Commission (EC) should take steps to hold the December 22 elections in a free, fair and credible manner. I told the EC that I dont want any favour from the commission. If it thinks that the Army or other forces should be deployed during polling, it can do it. Its up to the EC now, she said. However, the chief election commissioner (CEC), Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, said yesterday that there is no need for Army deployment for the Narayanganj City Corporation polls, as the law and order situation there is fine.