Awami League (AL) candidate Selina Hayat Ivy and the BNP’s nominee, advocate Shakhawat Hossain Khan, have begun informal campaigns to seek people’s support in the run-up to the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) election, slated for Dec 22. They are yet to get their election symbols and Election Commission clearance to launch formal election campaigns. As a result, they are currently busy establishing mass contact, briefing rallies and holding indoor meetings, where they are making various promises to win voters’ hearts.
AL candidate Selina Hayat Ivy is confident of victory. BNP candidate Shakhawat, too, believes he will be the winner, if the election is free and fair.
Ivy, the previous city mayor, said at an event in Narayanganj that she had complete faith in the people of the city. She said they would make the right choice, keeping in mind the various development projects she had implemented.
“We are the leaders and workers of AL. We will have to work together in favour of our party symbol, the Nouka (boat). I worked for the Narayanganj city-dwellers during the past five years, and I hope they will not disappoint me,” she said. Earlier, in the morning, Ivy met Syed Ashraul Islam, the general secretary of the last AL committee, at his city residence.
Sources said Ivy met Syed Ashraf to seek his support. Ashraf is understood to have said, “Go ahead, the party will be beside you.” Meanwhile, BNP candidate Shakhawat met transport leaders in the Narayanganj city. He also exchanged views with leaders of the Islami Oikkya Jote and other civil society members yesterday. He promised to free Narayanganj city from the clutches of terror and drugs. He alleged that Ivy had failed to live up to people’s expectations in the past five years. Shakhawat said Ivy had failed to unify Narayanganj residents and that even the AL was a divided house in the city.