Both the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have interpreted the results of the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) poll in a positive light. The ruling party feels that the results indicate its rising stock among the people, while the BNP holds that the party has benefited from the civic poll. After the one-sided January 5 national election in 2014 and the recently held five city corporation polls, which were deemed controversial, the AL leadership thought it was losing its popularity. But with the results of the NCC election, the party higher-ups now believe that people have put their faith in the Sheikh Hasina government’s ongoing development work.
Following the January 5 election, the BNP had carried out a three-month-long violent programme to dethrone the Hasina government, which isolated the party from the people. But the party believes that the results of the NCC poll have given them a chance to reach people at the grassroots level.
In the NCC polls held on Thursday, the AL-nominated candidate Dr Selina Hayat Ivy, who got 175, 611 votes, defeated the BNP-nominated candidate, Shakhawat Hossain Khan, by 79,567 votes.
The Independent spoke to senior leaders of both the parties yesterday to know their views regarding the poll results. AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said the popularity of the ruling party had been increasing due to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s astute leadership and ongoing development activities to turn the country into a middle-income state by 2021 and a developed one by 2041. He also said that the AL-nominated candidate's victory in the civic poll proved that people wanted development and the country could not progress without Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “The NCC polls proved that the people are with us and not with the BNP,” he added. Abdur Rahman, another joint general secretary of the AL, said the results of the election to the NCC clearly showed that people had endorsed Prime Minister Hasina’s ongoing development work. He also said the NCC poll was held in a free, fair and peaceful manner, which is a positive change in the political situation of the country. “The election has proven that there is democracy in the country,” he added.
AL presidium member Mohammad Nasim said the people gave their verdict against the sabotage and subversive activities across the country sponsored by the BNP-Jamaat combine.
Road, transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said Ivy's personal image and the Hasina government’s development works made the victory possible.
Senior BNP leaders said they had taken the results positively as it gave them an opportunity to reach the people at the grassroots level. They also said that winning 12 seats out of 27 posts for the councillor was a major achievement for the party. BNP standing committee member Lt. Gen. (retd) Mahbubur Rahman said: “Ivy won because of her personal image and popularity.”
However, the BNP got the highest number of councillors’ seats, which would help the party reach the grass-roots people. The former army chief said the BNP did not boycott the polls as it believes in democracy and elections. BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and two other standing committee members declined to make any comments. “I don’t want to make any comment before taking a look at the results sheet,” Alamgir said. Another BNP leader described the statement of party joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi as the party’s assessment of the NCC polls.
At a press conference yesterday, Rizvi demanded a judicial probe into the polls after BNP candidate Shakhawat Hossain alleged irregularities. He also demanded recounting and scrutiny of the poll results.