The scheduled campaigning time for the upcoming city corporation election ended in the northern city of Rangpur on Monday midnight. The polls will be held tomorrow. With the participation of stalwarts from the three major political parties—the Awami League (AL), the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and the Jaitya Party (JP-Ershad)—the Rangpur civic polls have taken centre stage in national politics. Seven candidates are contesting for the mayoral position in the Rangpur polls. As the campaigning time neared its end, the candidates spent hectic moments reaching out to voters to drum up support for their party.
Central leaders of the AL, BNP, and JP are currently in the city. They joined the campaign with their respective candidates by holding discussions and street meetings to woo voters. Among the several promises made is one of turning Rangpur into a modern city. The maiden election to the Rangpur City Corporation was held on December 20, 2012, under the party banner. The AL-backed candidate, Sarfuddin Ahmed Jhantu, became the first mayor of Rangpur by bagging 106,255 votes and defeating his nearest rival, Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa, by 28,450 votes. Some 288 candidates are contesting in the polls this time. These include seven candidates for the mayoral post, 218 for
the councillor posts in the 33 general wards, and 63 for the councillor posts in the 11 wards reserved for women.
The seven mayoral candidates are the AL-nominated Jhantu, the JP-nominated Mostafizur, the BNP-nominated Kawser Zaman Babla, and independent candidates Selim Akhter, Hossain Mokbul Shahriar, ATM Golam Mostafa, and Abdul Kuddus.
The ruling party leaders have mainly highlighted the government’s developmental activities in their campaign. They have also harped on the BNP-Jamaat’s violence and petrol bomb attacks in recent times and during the January 5 election.
BNP vice-chairman Iqbal Hasan Mahamood Tuku, the convener of the party’s Rangpur City Corporation conducting committee, has spent busy days campaigning for his candidate Kawsar.
JP chairman H M Ershad has stayed put in Rangpur to garner votes for his candidate Mostafizur. He claimed the JP candidate will win the election by one lakh votes.
Voters believe the main contest will be between AL and JP. Partha Bose, a voter of ward 33, believes Jhantu is the fittest man to run the administration and develop Rangpur City Corporation.
However, Masuda Khatun, a voter of ward 17, alleged: “Jhantu misbehaves with people. But Mostafizur is a very nice person. We will support him.”
Hashem Ali, a voter of ward 29, believes Kawsar is a well-behaved person. “I want to see a fresh face winning the city corporation election,” he added.
Suvash Chandra Sarkar, the regional election officer, said all necessary steps have been completed. To maintain law and order, 630 Border Guards Bangladesh personal, 33 teams of Rapid Action Battalion and police, and the Ansar will work during the election. The total number of security personnel deployed is 5,500. Four-layered security measures have been set up in the city.
According to the Election Commission, 393,994 citizens, including 196,356 men and 197,638 women, will vote at 1,122 polling booths in 193 polling centres to elect 45 public representatives.