Barishal Correspondent :
After declaring election schedule for Barishal City Corporation (BCC) election, it has been come in to forces for execution officially from on June 13.
However till this report four candidates candidates of BNP, JaPa, IAB and CPB for one mayor, 70 for 30 general ward councilors and 12 for 10 ward councilors reserved for females, collected nomination forms from EC and yet not submitted any one, said Helal Uddin, district election officer and assistant returning officer for BCC election.
BCC has 40 including 10 reserved for females and 30 for general councilors at 30 wards in 58 square kilometer areas.
At present number of voters reached to 2, 42,166 including 121432 male and 120730 female voters, EC office sources said.
Golam Abbas Chowdhury Dulal, President , City AL, said name of mayor candidate yet not finalized, but they suggested name of Serniabad Sadek Abdullah, CXity AL Joint Secretary and son of district AL president lawmaker Abul Hasnat Abdullah.
However , the party will give full support to any candidate finally nominated by the central body, Dulal assured.
Bilkis Jahan Shirin, central organizing secretary of BNP, collected nomination form from EC.
However, central joint-secretary general and city BNP President, first elected Mayor of BCC, Mojibor Rahman Sarwar, said they will take decision about participation of BCC election after observing the upcoming election of Gazipur City Corporation as EC already lost its credibility about holding free fair election on a level playing field.
However if central body of the party decides to participate in election, then they will give united support to their nominated candidate, Sarwar assured.
Iqbal Hossain Tapos, central body member and businessmen, recommended from district and city unit of the party as BCC Mayor Candidate of Jatiya Party (Ershad), said Mohsin Ul Islam Habul, district JP President.
On other hand, A K Azad, district CPB president and Mawlana Obaidur Rahman Mahbub, city president of Islami Andolon Bangladesh, also collected their nomination forms for Mayor post of BCC, but yet not submitted, EC sources said.
Mujibur Rahman, returning officer of BCC election, said according to announced schedule nomination papers could be collected and submitted from June 13 to 28, scrutiny on 1st and 2nd July, appeal against decision of EC on 3rd to 5th and verdict against appeal 6th to 8th July, withdrawal of nomination paper on 9th July and distribution of symbols on 10th July would be held.
Before distributing election symbols, candidates could not propagate officially.
Mentionable after enacting BCC act on April 4, 2001, Barishal divisional headquarter and municipality promoted to City Corporation on July 25, 2002.
Mojibor Rahman Sarwar was first elected Mayor of BCC in the election of 20 March 2003. However he was arrested by military backed caretaker government before completing his tenure as BCC Mayor.
AL backed candidate Shawkat Hossain Hiron elected as second BCC Mayor by defeating BNP backed candidate Sarfuddin Ahmed Sentu with a margin of few hundred votes in election held on August 4, 2008.
Ahsan Habib Kamal, former municipal member, acting mayor, defeating Shawkat Hossain Hiron, elected as third Mayor of BCC in the election of June 15, 2013.
EC sources said if Kamal would not compete in next Mayoral election, then he could run till handover the charges to newly elected Mayor.
Mentionable number of voters in last BCC election were 2, 11,257 including 1, 03,632 females and 1, 07, 625 males.
A total of 3 candidates for one Mayor, 45 for 10 reserved female councilors and 116 for 30 general councilor posts competed in last BCC election.
