Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission on Thursday declared the schedule of second phase election of 129 upazila parishads slated for March 18.
Similar to the first phase, scheduled for March 10, the polls will be held under party banners.
The commission also decided to dispatch two assistant returning officers to sadar upazilas.
The last date for filing nomination papers is February 18, and the last date of withdrawal thereof is February 27, announced Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed adding that the nomination papers would be scrutinised on February 20.
The EC secretary declared the polls schedule at a press conference in the Nirbachan Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar of Dhaka on Thursday afternoon.
On January 10, the EC secretary said that the polls would be held in phases starting from the first week of March.
The first upazila polls were held in 1985, while the following three UZ elections were held in 1990, 2009 and 2014. The last one was organised in six phases.
Election of 87 upazila parishads in 12 districts under Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Rajshahi divisions will be held in the first phase.
The decision was made in the 45th meeting of the commission held at the EC with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda in the chair.
The EC secretary said that the polls would be held in five phases.
The first phase of the local body polls will be held in all upazilas of Panchagarh, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Rangpur districts under Rangpur division, all upazilas in Jamalpur and all upazilas of Netrakona except Atpara under Mymensingh division, all upazilas of Sunamganj except Jagannathpur and all upazilas of Habiganj except Shayestaganj under Sylhet division, and all upazilas of Sirajganj, Joypurhat, Natore and Rajshahi under Rajshahi division.
